The Waking World
by Hell-homeofintegrity
Summary: Bethany has the perfect life, good job, friends, family, boyfriend. But then she wakes up in an abandoned warehouse, saved by the Winchesters and a certain Angel of the Lord. With no memory of her past, Bethany must learn to live in her new world and find out who she is. (I suck at summaries but please read and tell me what you think!) [Set end of Season 8 and an AU Season 9]
1. I Hope You Enjoyed Your Stay

Chapter One: I Hope You Enjoyed Your Stay

"_You just_ _want me to kiss you don't you?" I giggled as he leaned closer. His brown hair was soft in my hands as I fell against him until I could feel his breath on my face. His eyes were the brightest blue I had ever seen. He was handsome, I still wondered how I managed to convince the once play-boy to settle down into a semi-functioning relationship with me. He was like my own little miracle, someone as unearthly in beauty, with someone as boring as me, with my plain brown hair and average looks. The only thing exciting about me was my strange silver-grey eyes, well, some called them pretty, most people however, muttered that they were unnerving behind my back. _

"_Maybe…" He breathed, gently he touched his lips to mine, my brain exploded and the rest of the world faded away. I forgot our small apartment, the music we were dancing too and the sparkling lights of the city outside. Everything went black, I was so involved in the kiss that I couldn't even feel him anymore. Everything was just a sea of darkness. _

I opened my eyes to see the same pair of startling blue looking back at me. But I wasn't in my apartment, instead I was in a dark abandoned warehouse, I was hanging by my hands from a thick rusted chain two feet off the ground. And those blue eyes were looking at me, not with warmth and love, but with a cold curiosity. I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was as dry as the Sahara. I wanted to ask where I was, but it came out as a strangled croak that was barely intelligible. "W-arr-aaa-I?"

"Do not speak, you have not consumed liquid in a year, your vocal chords will be damaged if you attempt to communicate." The man said, he stood back, he was wearing a black suit underneath a beige trench coat. My arms ached, I swayed myself forward and jangled the chain I was hanging from.

"Mhm!" I murmured angrily, my arms were on fire and my stomach was like a black hole. He nodded and pulled a long silver blade from the hidden depths of his coat. Positioning it carefully, he struck a calculated blow and the thick chain snapped easily. I fell the short drop, but my legs, my muscles, hell my whole body jarred with the sudden pressure and I collapsed on the floor. At least I started to, but the trench coated stranger (that looked exactly like the man I had been sharing a flat with), caught me quickly and carried me in his arms like I was a five year old. I tried to move my fingers, but all they did was spasm with sudden use.

"Castiel! Come on let's go! You're my friend and I appreciate the help, but if you don't get your ass to the car I'm leaving you behind!" Another male voice called out from outside the building. "Who the hell is that?" he shouted as we came into view.

The man was tall with a thick muscles, he sported a working tan and his brown hair was windswept. His cheeks were flushed with exertion and his green eyes were shining with excitement. He was leaning against a black, '67 Chevy impala. Castiel walked us towards the car with a look of impatience on his face.

"This Dean, is the woman the Djinn was feeding on, the one you missed finding on your initial search of the building. This women had been strung up in that warehouse for a year and if I had not have found her, she would have died a slow painful death as the poison wore off." He scolded.

The other man held his hands up in a peace gesture. "I'm sorry Cas, Jesus, put her in the back and we'll take her to the motel and patch her up."

"Dean," Castiel sighed. "She hasn't eaten or drunk anything for an unknown amount of time, the only thing in her system is an IV bag. She needs nutrients." He opened the car door and placed me gently in the back seat. He then sat next to me, placing my head in his lap and slammed the door shut. "Take us to somewhere with food. I will heal her so she can at least stand."

Dean jumped in the front seat and started the engine. He drove in silence and my attention slipped from him to the man whose lap my head rested on. His blue eyes scanned my face as his hands rested gently on my chest cavity. I felt a buzzing in my ears and the pain in my arms began to cease. I felt good enough to sit up, so I did. I opened my mouth and breathing wasn't as painful as it was moments ago.

"Where in hell am I?" I demanded, my voice was still croaky, but my anxiousness was clear.

"You're in Nebraska." The man in the front answered back chuckling, "So close enough but not quite."

"But I was- Then I- We were- I-" My head spun and I groaned with confusion. "I need to drink a large quantity of alcohol, stat."

The driver chuckled again. "I like you." He then gave me a sympathetic glance from the mirror. "You were taken by a Djinn, a monster, all that stuff you've been experiencing, not real. This is reality, sorry to disappoint."

I caught Castiel shooting him a look, obviously he wanted Dean to be more tactful, but I was thankful for his abruptness. It forced me to get a grip on reality, well this reality anyway. "A Djinn is a monster, it captures its victims and stores them alive with the use of a poison, this poison makes the victim believe it is living a normal life, however this world is only in their mind." Castiel began to explain.

"I know what a Djinn is," I answered back, cutting him off. "I'm a, I mean I was, I mean in the fake world…" I shook my head, this was all so confusing. "A professor of folklore, at a college." I figured that I was, all the information was still there, I had been good at my job. Just because it wasn't real doesn't mean that I had suddenly lost my knowledge.

"You're pretty young for a college professor." Dean noted, he stared at me with a curiosity, like he was looking at me for the first time.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, that's what everyone said. "I know my lore; the rest is just stuff that happened along the way." I felt bad for shooting Castiel down before; he just looked so similar to _him_. It was unnerving. "Thanks for the recharge." I said softly, giving him appreciative glance. He cocked his head and stared curiously back at me and my cheeks blushed in the usual way. He frowned as my face flushed scarlet. This was so unfair; it wasn't my fault that in the imaginary world some monster created for me we were together. I had spent so long thinking of him in that way, my body couldn't help but respond.

Dean pulled the car into the lit up parking lot of a twenty-four hour diner, cutting off the engine he turned to the back seat and looked me over. "Can you walk?" he asked. I shrugged and gave him an unsure smile, I hoped I wasn't going to faint on him.

We hopped out of the car and Dean put his arm around my waist. It looked like we were a couple if anyone was to spare a glance, but he was in fact holding me upright and practically lifting me off the ground so I barely had to use my legs to walk. We found an out of the way booth and settled down; I resisted the urge to lean on Castiel's shoulder like I usually would. Dean looked down carefully at the menu, like it was life or death on whether or not he had the razzle-berry pie or peach cobbler. "What you feel like eating?" He asked me distractedly as he gazed at the two opposing deserts on his menu.

"In Djinntopia I was a vegan." I answered back. He silently handed me the salad menu, but I didn't bother looking past the glossy cover.

"Cas, you eating anything?" Dean asked the man opposite him as he smiled down at the menu, it appeared he had made his choice.

"Dean, you know that as an angel, I don't require sustenance." Castiel replied in his rough impassive voice. Dean just rolled his eyes in irritation. It took me a moment to process the fact that my saviour was a child of God, first edition. Typical, I always fell for the unattainable types. Angel of the Lord? That's about as no-way-in-hell-are-they-in-your-league as you could get. I allowed myself to be distracted by the other customers so not to induce another awkward blushing sequence with Castiel.

The waitress walked up to the booth and shot us a strained smile. It was clear she had had a stressful night and was impatient for her shift to end. By the way she glanced at her watch and scrunching her face in disappointment; I guessed it must be a long way off.

"I'll have a slice of the razzle-berry pie please, with cream." Dean folded up his menu and handed it to the waitress; she shoved it under her arm and turned to me, her pen at the ready.

"I'll have a serve of your venison pie, a side order of chips. As well as a hamburger with bacon, make it extra, extra crispy." I said to her, she raised an eyebrow, but I just leaned down to tie my shoelaces, letting her wonder.

"Anything to drink?" She asked in a sugar-sweet southern accent.

"Coke." Dean answered, giving her a winning smile.

"An extra-large chocolate milkshake, please." I said. My fingers were struggling to tie the knots on my filthy tennis shoes; they were weak and unable to create enough tension. Not to mention they keep shaking.

"And what about you honey?" The waitress asked Castiel kindly. He opened his mouth to reply, without thinking I responded from him, like I usually did.

"He'll have a black coffee, one sugar." I said distractedly as I finally secured the lace into the fashion I liked it. The waitress bustled off without another word, but Castiel gave me a harsh, inquisitive look. I smiled weakly, "Lucky guess, one of my many talents."

Soon enough our plates of food found us and I tucked into the pie with vigour. "What happened to being vegan?" Dean asked me, his eyes slightly wide at the amount of food I managed to consume in five seconds.

"Screw Bambi." I said through a mouthful of venison pie, which was in fact delicious. Dean smirked before tucking into his plate himself.

Castiel stared at me intently, usually I rose to the challenge of the weight of those ever-blue eyes, but they weren't _my_ eyes, the blues ones that I loved. So instead they made me feel subconscious and uncomfortable. "What?" I finally snapped, turning away from my half eaten burger to glare at him.

"You haven't told us your name; I was contemplating what to call you until you decided to reveal it." Castiel answered back stonily. To the untrained eye, he would have appeared untouched by my lashings out. But I was well versed in the ways of that face; I knew that he was upset.

"Sorry," I sighed "I just woke up from a pretty good life to find out it was a figment of my imagination. Implanted by a monster by the use of poison, meanwhile while I was off in fairyland, I managed not only to lose every memory of my previous existence, but also was a snack-on-the-go for a psychotic genie on steroids. So, I am a little rusty at social skills, ok?" I huffed; glad to get rid of all of my frustration, confusion and anger. Even if some of it was a little less to do with being a midnight meal for a Djinn, and more to do with the fact _he_ looked so similar. "My name is Bethany." I added. I said my name clearly, because most people automatically give me a nickname, Beth, Bee, Ben, Benny. I couldn't conjure my parents' faces to mind, but I distinctly felt that they didn't appreciate nicknames of any sort. I had been Bethany for all my life; I was going to stay that way.

Castiel frowned and appeared unsatisfied with my response, however he didn't push me further, so I went back to slurping the last of my milkshake. "Done." I announced out of habit. It had taken me less than five minutes to consume my entire meal. Dean shook his head at me, like he was confounded at how I, someone so slim in stature, managed to store away that much food. As I waited for him to finish his pie, I picked up a spare table knife and began playing with it. I kept dropping it; I let out a grunt of frustration before trying again, and again, and again.

"May I ask what you are trying to achieve?" Castiel queried as he watched me finally master picking up the knife and move on to summoning up enough strength to stab it into the table.

I looked up, startled by his question. I was going to ignore him but Dean looked at me with interest too, so I felt like I ought to explain myself. "Look," I began. "I've only just met you, and I'm not one to judge, but you guys seem like the type that trouble finds. A lot." Dean snorted at that comment. "I was just seeing that if in a desperate situation that will inevitably occur, whether or not I will be able to defend myself. I am not exactly a poster girl for perfect health at the moment and I don't want to end up monster kibble again."

"Why do you think we attract trouble?" Castiel asked, tilting his head to frown at me. Dean practically choked on his pie; I had to hand him a glass of water so he could clear his airways and breathe again.

"Well Cas." Dean wheezed he was fighting a smile as he tried to put on a serious face for the other man. "It might have something to do with you being a rogue angel running from heaven, me being a monster hunter who likes to piss people off and Sammy being a favourite of the King of Hell when it comes to sending trouble his way."

"You have a point." Castiel nodded thoughtfully, he returned to gazing outside the window to the street opposite.

"Sammy?" I asked frowning. Monster hunter? Rogue angels? King of Hell? I was really confused.

"Sam is my brother." Dean clarified. "So your probably wondering how this all works right?" he looked at me understandingly. I nodded, he was right; I hated not knowing what the hell they were talking about. It was being like the kid being the punch line of the inside joke. So he explained it all to me, his mom, Azazel the demon general, Castiel saving him from hell, Chuck the prophet of the lord/ writer, Lilith, Ruby, the Apocalypse, Lucifer, Michael, the Leviathans, the Tablets, the Trials, Bobby, Charlie, Meg, Kevin. By the end Castiel was finishing his fifth refill of coffee and our waitress had finished her shift.

"Wow." I said stunned when he had finally finished up to the current events. Sam had just finished the second trial of hell, Kevin was almost done deciphering the last of the tablet, and Dean had roped Castiel into helping him with a Djinn problem and that led to them finding me.

"Yeah, I know," Dean grimaced, "and you didn't even live it." Now that he had finally explained everything, I began to notice the wear and tear of a man whose been forced to the edge too many times. Dean had huge bags under his eyes, his skin was pale under his tan and his smile was strained. I reached over and squeezed his hand, I didn't know what it was like in his shoes, but I could appreciate the kind of person it would take to fill them. Dean seemed to have made a few mistakes, but the good he has done to rectify it? I couldn't imagine anyone else with that kind of heart, with that kind of soul, who would take that duty because he just happened to be there.

"So," I straightened up and gave both Dean and Castiel an uneasy glance. "How does this work, do you drop me off at the closest hospital?" I bit my lip, "I would say leave me here, but the thing is besides my name, I don't know who I am. That Djinn didn't just take a chomp, he did something to me." My eyes watered, I didn't want to cry in front of this man and an angel, but the situation finally dawned on me, I was alone. "I don't remember anything at all. It's just blank and I don't know what to do, all I can ask is that you-" Tears were streaming down my face and my voice caught in my throat. "- That you don't leave me here, please, don't leave me here alone."

I bowed my head and closed my eyes, taking shaky breaths I tried to calm myself down. I was surprised when the angel sitting next to me gently pulled me into a hug. Dean was too because he gave Castiel a weird look. "Cas what are you doing?"

"I believe that when someone is upset, the social obligation is to comfort them, is that correct?" He asked. I had buried my face into his chest, letting the fabric of his trench coat soak up my tears. I relaxed against him as he cradled me, letting me calm down enough to pull away.

"That's right." I said weakly as I wiped my tears away.

Dean smiled at me kindly and slapped down enough money to pay for our meals. "Now you come with us and we'll show you our secret bunker." He wiggled his eyebrows, making me laugh and lifting the mood. We walked back to his car and I slid in the back seat.

The drive was long and quiet and I could feel myself falling asleep. You'd think of god knows how long I was hanging in that warehouse; I would have had enough sleep to last a life time. But I was exhausted. I heard a creak and Castiel threw his trench coat over me and I let my eyes slid shut. I drifted off to the sound of the impala's engine and Dean faintly humming Led Zeppelin.

* * *

**A/N: Okay so this is the first chapter of my story, I haven't done a fanfiction in a while and I don't really know how long I want this to go. I'll probably update this in a week-ish. SO please tell me what you think, do you want more? Any feedback would be great, constructive or otherwise. So until next week, thanks for reading! :)**


	2. The Other Winchester

Chapter Two: The Other Winchester

I woke up buried under a mountain of pillows and blankets on the softest bed I have ever felt. My hair was a tangled mess and I was wearing nothing but my long grey shirt. I wonder who? I shook my head, let's not think about it. The room was small, definitely underground judging by the lack of windows. The bed I was in was pushed against the far wall and through the darkness I could spot a door to an en suite, a walk in wardrobe and a desk and chair. I groped over to the bedside table and flicked the switch of the lamp standing on it. Light flooded the room and I had to blink a few times to refocus my vision.

I hated to leave the warm sheets of my bed but I needed to wash the taste of hamburger from my mouth. I stumbled to the bathroom and washed my face and pulled out my brown nest of hair. I scrounged around and found a toothbrush in its packet, though it looked kind of old. I peeled off the plastic and brushed furiously. I gave a once over of my appearance in the mirror, not Top-model worthy but I guess it's enough to explore without scaring anyone I happened to meet.

I was about to leave the room when a cold shiver ran down my spine. Jesus it was freezing down here, I looked back at my bed and saw a beige trench coat tangled in the sheets. It was warm so I slipped it on, hopefully I could return it to its owner after I found something else to wear.

I padded softly down the dimly lit hall into a large area that was clearly the living room, the library stocked full of books in the next room made me want to drool, but I followed my nose in the other direction to the smell of waffles. I walked in the bright room to see the back of a tall man; he had a lanky frame and not-so-short sandy-brown hair. He hummed softly as he flipped the last of the waffles onto a plate and turned around.

He did a double take and a look of surprise crossed his features and clouded his brown eyes. "Who are you and why are you wearing Cas's trench coat?"

"I'm Bethany, your brother saved me from a Djinn and um, I think Castiel gave me the coat so I didn't freeze when I fell asleep in the car, I don't have anything to keep me warm so…" I trailed off; I was hoping he wouldn't drop the waffles and pull a gun on me. So I sat down at the made table and twirled a fork in my fingers, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

I gave him a moment to process. I guess random women who are saved from monsters frequent their kitchen, because he promptly sat down opposite me and served me half of the stack of waffles. "I'm Sam." He told me as I drowned my breakfast in maple syrup.

"So I've heard," I smiled as I shoved a forkful of waffle into my mouth, God these were good. "Dude these things are incredible!" I exclaimed as I eagerly consumed another bite. I tried to hold back the groan of pleasure at the fluffy, syrupy goodness that was on my plate but it escaped through my lips and Sam's face lit up.

"Thanks." He said, tucking into his own plate, which I was secretly eyeing. We talked for a while, I liked Sam, he was honest and open and just generally a good guy. Then he asked the big question "So Bethany, I believe you've been caught up to speed on the goings of the Winchester World. How is it wrapping around that head of yours?"

"Neatly." I said firmly as I dug through another pancake. Sam raised an eyebrow, he didn't seem to think that I was capable just factoring the supernatural into my life. But I was, it has always interested me and I never discarded it as not real. The supernatural to me was like God was to other people, you just believed in it in a not-so-sure way until something either confirmed or disproved your theory. Being lunch for a monster confirmed my faith to say the least. "Neat as a pin." I gazed down at my breakfast thoughtfully; at least some of what was happening was tidy in my head, other bits not so much.

"Except…?" Sam trailed off, giving me a knowing look. He finished his breakfast the same time as I did; I picked up a towel and began helping him with the dishes.

"Except that besides my first name, I know absolutely nothing about myself. And my reality wasn't even real and my friends don't exist and my fake boyfriend looked like-" I stopped myself just in time but Sam's eyes lit up in a way that told me he wasn't going to let that one go. Aw crap, this is going to get messy.

"Looks like who?" Sam asked suspiciously, I focused on rubbing the last of the plates even though it was already dry, ignoring his question. His gaze was unsettling and made me feel like I was being interrogated

"He looked like Castiel okay?" I replied defeated, putting the plate back in the cupboard.

"Like Castiel, the Angel?" Sam frowned.

"Do you know of any other Castiels?" I said sarcastically, well this was going great. Sam would think that I was a stalker or something and kick me out of the bunker before our conversation even finished.

Sam gazed thoughtfully into space, his face crinkled slightly when he was in deep concentration I soon discovered. "When Dean was taken by a Djinn, he saw things from the outside world in his dream state. Maybe that's what you saw." He said. He was just trying to be helpful but I knew in my gut that that wasn't why this was happening.

I shook my head, "No, I don't think it was the same, he wasn't just flashes. He was there in my life, walking and talking and doing all the things that any other person in Djinnland and the real world do."

"You think you've seen Castiel before? Maybe before you were taken and that's what you were seeing?" Sam asked me.

I sighed, "If only I could remember and the mystery would be solved."

"So wait." Sam said looking at me in a strange way. "So he walked and talked like a normal person, and he was your boyfriend. Did you ever…?" My eyes widened and I slapped him with the dish towel.

"We- It wasn't real- I- Don't ask stupid questions!" I yelled flustered. Sam gave me a huge grin and he looked like a dog with a bone.

"YOU DID!" He shouted gleefully, cackling with laughter. "How was it?" He asked me mischievously.

"I'm not going to tell you!" I said incredulously, "Because A, We've only just met and I am not friends with you enough to start talking about my sex life with you and B it didn't even happen! It wasn't really him!"

"Aww come on, not the specifics that would be creepy! Just some general speculations, I'm almost the only one here who hasn't done it with an angel, please?" He teased giving me the puppy dog eyes Dean told me he was famous for.

"NO!" I yelled, but I was laughing too. I realised that Sam really didn't want to know, he just wanted to distract himself and me from the craziness that was his life and now mine too. "You keep dreaming mister!" He batted his eyelids and I gave in just a little. "It was very….. Good." I consented quietly. He roared with laughter and doubled over clutching his stomach. I started to giggle too and pretty soon we were both sitting on the ground with our backs leaned against the counter chuckling.

Sam wiped the tears from his face as he smiled at me "That is just the best, Dean will have a fit and Castiel-"

"Don't tell him!" I practically screeched. I swatted him with the dish cloth and gave him a serious glare.

"Fine!" Sam wheezed, "But it would be freaking hilarious…" He trailed off and began coughing violently. I handed him a tissue and it came back tinged pink.

"Sam are you-?" I began but the door burst open and Dean stormed in.

"Sam what are you doing out of bed! Get your ass back to your room now!" Dean yelled. The smile died from Sam's face and he shuffled out the door in silence, turning to me red faced, Dean looked ready to kill.

"I explained to you how he was, and I find you using his strength up making you breakfast and coughing up a lung while you just stand there?" Dean roared.

"First of all, the only strength Sam used up was the stuff he wanted to burn. I never made him do anything he didn't want to do and until you showed up we were actually having a little thing called fun, which I don't think he has had in a while. And second, I would never repay the kindness you've shown me by letting your little brother die coughing up blood on the floor." I gave him a challenging stare. Dean backed down a little as my grey eyes met his green ones.

He was silent for a while. "There are clothes for you in your room; I found some stuff that Charlie left behind." He said quietly, "And um, there are towels and stuff so you can have a shower."

I walked passed him in silence. "I know you care about him Dean any idiot can see that, he is your brother and you love him. But he decided to do these trials and if it's his last days on earth, would you rather he felt miserable or glad at the life he left behind?" I asked him, my back still to him. I was answered with silence so I closed the door to my room with a soft click.

* * *

I came out of my room with clean hair and fresh clothes. The jeans were a little worse for wear, the hot pink shirt wasn't my colour and Castiel's trench coat was still too big but besides that I was fine. I would go shopping as soon as I figured out my money situation and whether or not Dean was going to kick me out.

I walked into the living room of the bunker to find Dean watching a hospital soap opera and Sam poured over a book in the enjoining library. "Guilty pleasure?" I asked, smiling wryly.

Dean jumped and turned off the TV hastily. "Uh something like that." He answered back before picking up his empty mug and heading back towards the kitchen. I sighed, I was just burning bridges wherever I went.

"Your brother officially hates me." I said mournfully as I took a seat opposite Sam. "And we were getting on so well."

Sam gave me a reassuring smile. "Dean's just a little on edge with the whole trial situation, plus you're new and we really don't know anything about you, so I guess tense is the word I would use."

"I think I've figured a way to fix that." I said pulling the laptop sitting on the table next to him and clicked on the internet. I pulled up the website of the bank I used in Djinnland and typed in the numbers and information I usually would. My savings account popped up and I raised my hand for a high five that Sam kindly answered. "Jackpot!" I clapped happily and began searching through all the linked accounts.

Sam moved to my side of the table and began reading the screen over my shoulder. "Your name is Bethany Malakh and your twenty-eight. You don't have a home address, but look you have a P.O. Box." He pointed at the words on the screen, "Somewhere called Angels Camp in California, sound familiar?"

I shook my head and kept scrolling down, "Not in the slightest." I stopped when I reached the total amount of all my accounts. "Holy shit that's a lot of zeroes!" I exclaimed.

"What were you Bethany, a drug dealer?" Sam joked, as I held my hand out for his cell phone. He handed it to me and I began punching in the numbers for the bank.

_Hello this is customer services, my name is Candice, how can I help you today?_

"Hi Candace, my name is Bethany. My son, Jake, managed to cut up my bank card by accident, he is two and such a little trouble maker!" I exclaimed, slipping into a thick southern accent to conceal my identity, I felt like James Bond.

_I have a five year old, let me tell you it doesn't get easier! Now I'm guessing you're going to want a new card then?_

"Yes please." I said cheerfully. "What do I need to do to make that happen?"

_We just need your account details, you need to answer a few security questions and then we'll send it to the address we have on file._

"Sure thing, Candice, fire away!" I joked, Sam gave me a strange look and opened his mouth to comment but I pressed my fingers to my lips to remind him to be quiet. A few minutes later I had a card being sent to my P.O. Box and a kind goodbye from Candice.

"And that my friends, is how you earn a hell of a lot of money in less than sixty minutes, two days and I will be rolling in Benjamins!" I crowed, glad I finally could find a way to contribute. I wouldn't be able to fight monsters just yet, and my knowledge was kind of moot with this massive library. But money made the world go 'round I had a feeling the brothers didn't have a lot to spare. As long as I had a piece on the board, I didn't mind being the bank too.

Sam rolled his eyes, "What was with the fake accent?"

A goofy grin spread across my face. "I don't know, I felt real secret agent though." I shrugged, "What can I say, I'm a nerd."

"Somebody say Benjamins?" Dean asked walking into the room from the kitchen. He held a red plate with a pie of pecan pie, it looked really good.

"Apparently I'm rich!" I smiled. I then shot him my best puppy dog look and batted my eyelashes. "Deeeaaaaannnn…" I began.

"What do you need?" He sighed, putting his pie down sadly.

"Either a ride or a car." I told him, "Just to go get my bank card, and then I'll be right back." I said quickly, I had my fingers crossed. I watched his face morph as he considered my request.

"You can go," He conceded and I squealed in delight, I jumped up and gave him a hug then turned back to the table and grabbed the trench coat lying on the back of my chair. "On two conditions." I frowned, but nodded my head for him to continue with outlining my restrictions. "First of all, drive straight there, get your card and walk the hell outta that town, be back in a week or I'll come hunt your ass down." That seemed fair enough so I tilted my head in consent.

"And second of all? Don't talk to strangers? Get you more pie?" I asked jokingly.

Dean softened into a smile "Stay safe." I raised my eyebrows at his sudden show of friendship. "But the stranger danger thing is good and more pie _is_ the way to a certain man's heart." He added smiling.

I gave Sam a hug "So do I get to drive the Impala?" I asked, Sam looked down at me in alarm and his eyes went as round as saucers. 'You should not have said that!' He mouthed. I turned to Dean and bit my lip. He was looking at me like I had rolled in ectoplasm.

"No way in hell."

* * *

Dean led me to the bunker's garage and threw his arms out wide. "This is our fine collection," I was impressed, I knew a thing or two about cars and it looked like they had a good amount of decent metal. Dean smirked and then pointed, "You get that one."

It was a rusted old Prius that looked like it was about to fall apart. Somehow I think I was at the butt end of a joke. But I decided to play along and maybe just maybe, thinking about all those zeros, I would come back with something slightly more respectable. "Thanks Dean I appreciate this." I said, giving the tough hunter another hug.

"Here is your spending allowance." He said handing me two hundred dollars, "The car has gas and here are the fake ids I made for you earlier." He handed me a pile of leather and an old flip phone. "The phone has Sam and my numbers on speed dial, twenty bucks of credit so no Facebook." He joked as I shoved it in my pocket.

I handed him the trench coat, "Tell Castiel I appreciated the coat." Dean then shrugged off his blue jacket and handed it to me. "And thanks for this." I gestured to the car, the money and the jacket. It really was sweet of him to do this, especially someone he didn't know that well.

"No chick flick moments, go get your treasure chest of cash and my pie." He ordered, but I could see him trying not to smile.

"ROADTRIP!" I yelled excitedly as I jumped into the car and started the engine. Dean rolled his eyes and waved as I drove out of garage and into the big wide world.

* * *

**A/N: So this is the second chapter! Please, please, please don't be afraid to review or message me and tell me what you think! The favourite button is your friend. As is the little keys with letters on them on your keyboard. Anyway I guess I'll see you next week! :)**

**And a special thank you to _ms-bringthebeat26 _for reviewing, it totally made my week! :D**


	3. Angels Camp In Motels

Chapter 3: Angels Camp In Motels

I found out that Dean had also kindly provided me with music; a few burned CDs were shoved in the glove box, which I had to jiggle furiously to open. The Prius wasn't that bad, the gears were a little stiff and the brakes weren't as effective as I would have liked but it wasn't the _worst_ ride I'd been in.

It was heavy rock, not a genre of music I usually listened to, however a few hours later I knew at least the chorus of every song and was singing along with gusto. I planned to drive until Salt Lake City, spend the night and hit Angels Camp the next day before driving to at least Reno before stopping again. And trying my hardest to get to Lebanon that day, now that is an impossible amount of time driving, but I figured if I took regular pit stops and pumped the caffeine, I should be back in a week. That was the deadline Dean had decreed and I didn't want to break his trust when he had been so prepared to give it to me.

It was getting dark and I was almost at Salt Lake when I heard the buzz of my new phone ringing from the car's centre console. In my rush to get it out I dropped it on the floor of the car, "Shit!" I swore before pulling over and answering. "Hello?"

_Hey Bethany it's Dean, how's the road?_

"Long," I answered yawning. "What can I do for you on this fine evening Dean?"

_What do you mean; can't I just check up on you?_

I snorted, "You don't seem like the check-up type, besides I can hear Sam murmuring in the background, with who I assume is either the angel or the prophet. Did you give Castiel his coat?"

_Yes I did. So what you have supersonic hearing now?_

I sighed, "Dean you gonna ask me what you called to ask me or what?"

_Right, yeah. So you said you were a college professor of folklore and stuff right?_

"Yes," I replied confused, "And?"

_Well Kevin, he just got back from his errand running, is helping us with the last trial translated off the demon tablet._

"That's great!" I exclaimed.

_Yeah well the instructions are….. Confusing._

"What do you mean, are they vague or what?" I really didn't know where he was going with this.

_Well we have to cure a demon._

"Of what?" I asked, "Chickenpox, a carpet burn, a case of bad attitude?"

_Well we think of demonism. We found a tape that showed an exorcism that actually turned a demon human again._

"Dean that is Nobel Prize winning stuff, it's a legend in legends, the stuff that monsters aren't even sure are real! What do you need from me?" He quickly explained the details of the exorcism.

_So basically I just needed to see if you think it's safe. That it will work._

I thought about it carefully before replying. "Look Dean, from what the lore says and from what you've told me anything to do with demons doesn't sound exactly safe. However the exorcism seems in order, though I don't know about the purified blood bit. So I guess I could say that it should be okay."

_By Ok you mean you would be willing to stake your career on it?_

I smiled, "Always."

_Okay thanks Bethany._

"Dean," I said quickly, to stop him from hanging up.

_Yeah?_

"Be careful."

_I will._

"Good" I said before finishing the call.

* * *

When I pulled into Angels Camp it was getting dark. Fortunately the post office was still open so I hurried up the steps and into the building. I easily found the wet lit corridor to the large room where the P.O. Boxes were kept.

I pulled out the post-it note that Sam had written for me, displaying the number of the box. _1765_. I moved along the walls reading the numbers. I thanked God silently that the boxes were combination locked instead of good old fashioned lock and key. The brothers hadn't had time to give me a crash course in breaking-and-entering 101 so my lock picking skills were dismal to non-existent.

I reached my number and stared at the bronze coloured box intently, I was trying to get it to jog my memory but no such luck. Life was never that easy now was it? I sighed in defeat and began mulling over the numbers I would use for my combination. I tried my birthday, the date my first memories were created and about everything else I could think of. There was one last thing I could try, but it wouldn't work, would it? I calculated the numbers in the simple code A:1 and spelled out 3-1-19-20-9-5-12 it unlocked with a soft click and swung open. I tried not to dwell on the fact that it worked.

There was only one letter in it, from the bank, I pulled the card out and shoved it in my pocket. I felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. Only one letter meant that no one was missing me, no one was looking for me and I hadn't caused anyone pain. On the other hand only one letter meant no one was missing me, I was alone. I closed the door with a little more force than necessary and had to hold myself back from running out of the post office. I just wanted to get the hell out of here.

I jumped in the car and headed out the way I came in. I should have probably stayed at a motel, but driving cleared my head. I turned the music up full volume and sang my lungs out to ACDC; tears started pouring down my face. I wiped them away furiously, why was I crying? This was stupid, was I hoping to find something in that small town?

With a sinking feeling I realised that I was, I wanted to find out who I was, who this Bethany Malakh was like. I knew nothing about her and I was fresh out of leads, I guess now I would never know.

I steeled myself, come on Bethany, pull it together. Focus on getting back to the bunker; you can have a mental break down later. I drove until I was practically asleep at the wheel before finally pulling into a motel. I collapsed fully dressed on the bed and fell asleep.

"Bethany?" A voice called out to me in the darkness of my motel room.

I slowly gripped the knife under my pillow, making sure I had it tight in my hands I spun around. I stopped inches from Castiel's neck. "Castiel what are you doing here? Is that blood?" My eyes widened as I took in the angel in his usual trench coat and his blood stained hands and clothes.

"Yes." Castiel confirmed, he sat down on the chair across from my bed and looked at me with sad eyes.

"Castiel, what's wrong?" I asked automatically, my intuition told me he was over his head. He needed advice, but the kind of advice he couldn't go to the Winchester's for and that freaked me out.

"Bethany, I've done something terrible. Something I never should have even contemplated, but it was for the good of all. It was to save Heaven, to save my family. She was an abomination; I was surely kinder then if anyone else found her. I would tell Dean but he would get upset, he still hasn't forgiven me over the whole Leviathan incident. I don't want him to be more disappointed in me." Castiel babbled in a rush. His hands flew as he tried to express himself.

Gently pulling his hands onto my lap to steady him, I began trying to get him to calm down. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down there Castiel, start from the beginning." I said softly. He looked at me with grateful eyes, grateful that I helped him relax or grateful that I was listening to him I wasn't sure.

"Metatron told me he had a way to lock the Angels in heaven. So we could have a 'Family Meeting' and talk everything out. Like the demon tablet there are trials we have to complete." He began. I was already nervous and he had just started. Dean had told me who Metatron was and I did not like the sound of him.

"What were the trials?" I asked wearily.

"Well the first one was to collect the heart of an Angel and human abomination." Castiel replied, his voice was heavy and I didn't like the way this was going.

"You had to kill a Nephilim?" I gasped wide-eyed. They were so rare, so unique. The lore on Nephilim was almost as extensive was that on angels.

"Yes, my own niece." Castiel said mournfully.

Suddenly I realised whose blood I was now coating my palms with. "Castiel!" I exclaimed in horror. "You didn't go through with it did you?" He looked at me with huge blue eyes, lost eyes. Slowly he nodded.

"Oh Castiel." I sighed, what I wanted to do was lock myself in the bathroom away from this monster that killed innocent people. Well human-Angel hybrids. But he needed me and my instinct to protect him (or at least someone who looked just like him) had been hard-wired in my brain a lot longer than the feeling of disgust.

I stood up and led him to the bathroom; I sat him on the edge of the bath and began wiping the blood of his hands with a warm damp cloth. "You're not angry." Castiel stated in surprise. I silently focussed on my work, only speaking when I felt I could trust my voice not to betray me.

"I'm not angry." _I'm horrified. _"If you believe that this was the right choice…" _You're getting led down the garden path by a psychotic madman and you're definitely crazy. _"And you can live with it." _Thank God you don't sleep or you'd be an insomniac _"I trust your judgement." _The world's already going to Hell and your speeding up the process. Cheers. _

Castiel's look of relief was so heartbreakingly beautiful I wanted to cry. Great job Bethany you've just managed to convince the Angel to follow a madman's scheme, kudos to you! "Thank you." He said simply and stood up.

"Wait!" I said running back to the room and grabbing a pen. "If anything bad happens, anything at all, call me on this number." I said and scrawled down the number for the cell phone Dean had given me on the back of his hand. He studied it curiously before lowering his hand.

"Goodbye Bethany." He said quietly.

"Goodbye Castiel." I replied and kissed him softly on the cheek. I heard the flutter of wings and in a blink of an eye he was gone, leaving me in the motel room alone with my thoughts. First things first, call Dean.

The phone rang for quite a bit before he answered:

_Hello?_

"Hey Dean it's Bethany." I said.

_Bethany I really can't do this right now, Abbadon just escaped and now Crowley is all over our asses. _

"Wait you mean, Crowley as in the King of Hell, and Abbadon as in the Knight of Hell, the one that was handpicked by Lucifer himself?" I asked incredulously, unsure if I heard him right.

_Yes and yes, so unless it's really important I don't, to put it gently, have time for your crap._

"It's Castiel, he came to see me and-" I began

_Is he ok? Why did he go to see you? What happened?!_

"He's fine Dean, he came to see me asking for advice." I sighed.

_Wait he came to you for advice, Castiel?_

"Yes Dean, Castiel the angel? Wears a trench coat?" I replied sarcastically

_Bethany!_

"Look Dean, whatever Metatron has gotten into that head of his, it is not good. You need to talk to him, something about trials to close heaven?" I trailed off, the phone squealed and I had to hold it from my ear to stop it making me deaf.

_What was that Bethany? I can't hear you!_

"Trials, to close heaven!" I yelled into the phone.

_It's no use Bethany, I can't hear you, if I see Cas I'll ask him what's going on it's probably nothing to worry about._

"No Dean! It _is_ something to worry about; Metatron is making Castiel do all these trials! Something is up Dean! Dean?" But it was no use, Dean had hung up and had no idea what was going on.

"GOD DAMMIT!" I yelled throwing the bible on my night stand against the wall.

"Not quite." A voice said behind me and I jumped, I swung around grabbing the knife on the bed and turning to face the source of the sound. I stood face to face with a short, plump man, he was grey and balding and very smug. "The names Metatron, Scribe of God." He held out his hand in greeting but I glared it down. "Ah, so it's like that then."

"What does the Scribe of God want with me?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh I don't want anything with you. It's just that your little interfering is going to cost me my revenge. And I can't have now, can I?" He asked musing at the thought of letting a mere human run rabid and change destiny.

"Your revenge?" I asked my voice quaking. He was an Angel; he had taken down the Word of God for Pete's sake! He could smite me without batting an eyelid.

"On all the Archangels of course!" He said brightly. He cocked his head to the side, looking at me with a cold gaze.

"The Archangels." I repeated. "They're all gone, Michael and Lucifer are in the cage, Gabriel is dead and Raphael was destroyed by Castiel. You're a little late for that train." I was earnestly trying to keep him occupied, I was praying to Castiel with all my might and I hoped he would get his winged butt down here soon.

"Oh I know, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander. The other Angels are just as responsible, I think I'll give them a taste." He looked at me smugly. "And praying won't work, I've put a…" He stopped looking for the right expression. "A dampening field on you. Castiel won't be able to find or hear you and the Winchesters can contact you but you won't be able to reply. It's all just so brilliant. Well goodbye Bethany, I won't be seeing you again. In fact if I get my way, which I will, you won't be seeing any Angels anymore."

He gave me one last insane grin before disappearing.

I ran to my phone and tried to call Dean, I began pressing the buttons when my hands got shaky and I couldn't breathe. My vision swam as I dropped the phone and everything turned black.

* * *

I woke up on the floor of my motel room. I instantly reached for my phone to call Sam, Dean, anyone but my stomach heaved at the thought. I tried to pick it up again but I had to choke back yesterday's road munchies.

Maybe if I…. I thought about calling the police and my fingers touched the metal without a hitch. I had to get back to Lebanon stat. The thought of the bunker made my head spin, ok no going there, but if I wanted to get to the Lovewell state park _through_ Lebanon…. I instantly felt better.

My phone vibrated and Dean's phone number glowed on the screen. I didn't even bother to answer it; I didn't want to black out again. I let it go to voicemail before picking it up.

_Bethany it's Dean, you're not picking up and I pray to God that you're not dead; Crowley is going after people we have saved in the past. Which means you're on the hit list, we are trying to find a way to stop him, but Bethany, search every room, car, or area you go in for hex bags and burn them. Stay safe and get your ass to the bunker, you'll be safer there. I saw Cas and we-_

The message tone beeped the end of the message; I grabbed my keys and headed to my car. I checked it over for hex bags before hopping in the front and driving back the way I came.

I drove like hell hounds were behind me. I was almost at Lebanon; Dean hadn't left me another text message so I was worried. I was maybe six hours out and it was dark outside when I saw something reflected on the hood of the car and my heart stopped. I pulled over on the side of the road, abandoning the car I sprinted up a hill to get a better view.

Thousands of shooting stars were streaking across the sky. Bright reds, blues, yellows and greens were cascading to earth. I looked at my phone, I had a message from Dean, there were only two words on the screen, two simple words that meant the unbalance of the world.

_**-Their Angels-**_

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" I screamed. I was too late, Metatron had exacted his revenge, he wasn't closing the Gates of Heaven and slaughtering the Angels like he had led me to believe, nor was he having the 'Family Meeting' that Castiel had been deceived by. He had done something much, much worse. He had kicked all the Angels out of Heaven. He was right, I wouldn't be seeing any Angels again, because there were no Angels, they were all human.

* * *

**A/N: Third chapter up! This follows the last episode of Season 8, from now on we are entering the territory of Season 9 AU. I think I may have messed up the sequence of events. I haven't seen the episode in a while and I don't own season 8 on DVD. I know this jumped around a little bit, sorry about that! So send me a review and tell me what you think, I'm open to any feedback so don't be afraid!  
So that's all folks! See you next week!**


	4. Their Falling

Chapter 4: Their Falling

I fell to my knees and sobbed, it was too much. Losing everything I had ever known, thinking I could get some of it back. Meeting Sam and Dean and learning about their world. Castiel. Metatron. I couldn't take it anymore.

I don't know how long I knelt there as the Angels fell to earth, but after a while I heard a rustling from the trees behind me and a strangled cry. "Bethany!" I turned at the sound of my name. Castiel struggled to walk towards me, his trench coat filthy and his face cut and bleeding. "Bethany!" He called again; he swayed dangerously as I hurried towards him.

I caught him before he fell. He looked at me with broken eyes "Metatron, he took my grace, the other Angels." His body racked with sobs. I held him in my arms as he cried in anguish. I heard the ruffle of feathers and I looked up to see Metatron's leering face.

"You!" I yelled my words laced with venom. "You monster!"

"Now that's no way to speak to the last remaining Angel of the Lord." He scolded. I hated the self-righteous look on his face.

"I hope you know how to run. I hope you know how to hide because I am going to find you and I am going to rip you to shreds!" I growled.

He moved closer and I instinctively protected the frozen-in-time Castiel in my arms. Slowly he raised his hands and snapped his fingers. "Your curse is now erased, run back to those precious Winchesters of yours." He said and then turned to walk away.

I struggled underneath the weight of the fallen Angel in my arms. "Come back you coward! Fight back!" I yelled at his retreating figure.

He gave me the smug grin I loathed. "Why would I fight? I've already won." And with a flap of his wings he was gone. Castiel reanimated and I turned my attention to him.

"Castiel, we need to move, I'm going to take you back to the bunker and Sam and Dean will help us figure this out." I said soothingly as I helped him stand. Castiel grasped my hand like it was a lifeline and stumbled after me. I sat him in the car and pulled my seat belt on. Castiel tried to do the same, but he struggled with the mundane task. Gently I put my hands over his and guided them into completing the action. He looked at me gratefully. My mind kicked into practically mode as I drove, listing all the things I needed.

Castiel and I needed to get cleaned up, plus I was exhausted and I was betting Castiel wasn't feeling so perky either. So that required a motel and Castiel would need a few days to adjust. He needed food, good food, not take away crap as well as some new clothes. Walmart and a supermarket demanded a visit. I stopped at the first town we hit and drove straight to the Walmart. I hopped out of the car and after helping Castiel with his seatbelt.

"Now if anyone asks, you're a homeless guy and I am buying you some clothes out of the kindness of my heart." I told him as we walked up to the brightly lit doors.

Castiel frowned, "But that would be lying." He stated confused.

I sighed, "Castiel when humans want something, we lie."

He nodded vigorously. "That's how you become President." He stated a matter-of-factly. I burst out laughing in shock. Who knew Angel's had a sense of humour?

I walked into the store and head straight for the men's clothing. I grabbed some things in roughly his size and pushed him into the changing room. "Bethany." He called out.

"What is it Castiel?" I asked.

There was a large thump and a yelp. "I need help."

I pulled open the curtain to see him trapped in twisted clothing. I showed him how his buttons, zips and belt work. As well as undoing his tie for him. After that I left him to his own devices.

Eventually he came out dressed in jeans and a smart shirt. I grinned. "You're just missing one thing…" I revealed a trench coat I had found and he smiled at it. It wasn't the same as his, but it would have to do until we could get his washed.

I pulled off his tags and jumped into the changing room, coming out in jeans, a baby blue t-shirt and a green jacket. I moved us swiftly to the self-checkout and scanned the removed tags, placing our original clothes in the bags instead of the new ones. I paid with my new card and walked swiftly out of the store, Castiel scurried after me. I got to the car and waited as he sat down in the passenger seat. I leaned through the open door and strapped him in.

I started the engine and turned to him "Now we're going to the supermarket. Is there any food you particularly like?"

He titled his head, deep in thought "Hamburgers."

"Hamburgers it is then." I said.

* * *

The 24 hour supermarket was empty as Castiel and I grabbed a trolley and began pushing our way down the aisles. It was probably the funniest trip I have ever been on, mostly due to Castiel. It must have been because he never had to think about food before, but he would find things on the shelves that would excite him. Not wanting to break his good mood, I allowed him to put in the trolley what he wished.

"What function does this serve?" His curiosity was only dampened by his excitement as he waved a box of microwave popcorn like a kid with a present on Christmas morning.

"That is microwave popcorn Castiel, if you want some get the other type of bag. We don't have a microwave…" But it was no use; he had already thrown it in the cart and moved on to his next discovery. "I guess we can try." I rolled my eyes but his enthusiasm was contagious. Occasionally I managed to sneak in something for hamburgers but we left the shop with three times as many bags as I thought we would.

I drove to a nice looking hotel and got a room with a kitchen. I opened the door wide and Castiel shuffled through holding the bags of groceries we had just purchased. I began the cooking process which was hard with Castiel constantly looking over my shoulder and asking questions. But my mantra was be patient I mean, he was just curious. I was glad he was rather being curious then a complete wreck. I didn't know how I would handle an ex-angel suffering from PTSD. I turned the radio on to fill the silence in between Castiel's constant questions.

When his burger finally reached his plate he looked at it mournfully.

"What's wrong Castiel?" I asked confused. It was just how he wanted; he spent ages picking the fillings to accompany his burger.

"You spent so much work on it; I don't want to eat it." He said as his stomach growled audibly and I shoved his plate closer to him.

"It doesn't bother me, eat it, now." I said forcefully. He picked up the burger and took a huge bite; he grinned as he ate and let out a groan of pleasure.

"This is delicious, you're a good cook." He leaned over and to my surprise kissed me on the cheek.

I lifted my hand to my cheek and blushed. "What was that for?" I stuttered. He frowned and pointed at the apron I had bought from the supermarket. _Kiss the Cook._

When dinner was finished, I taught Castiel how to wash up, we had moved on to using the TV when Castiel turned to me with a fearful gaze. "Bethany." He whispered mortified, "I have to use the bathroom."

It took all my willpower not to burst into a fit of giggles. I led him to the bathroom, "You know how to…" I trailed off. Please, please, PLEASE God; do not make me teach him to….

"Yes." He said and began closing the door, suddenly it widened again and he bowed his head in embarrassment, "Don't leave." and shut the door quickly.

I stuffed my sleeve into my mouth and shook violently with silent laughter. Tears rolled down my cheeks. The all-powerful ex-Angel Warrior of God was terrified of using the toilet. I collapsed under the weight of my mirth. I heard my name being called out through the walls.

"It's the button on the left Castiel." I called out after I had controlled my laughing fit.

I heard a yelp and the glee drained from my face. I burst into the room to see Castiel cradling his wet hand. Glaring at the running tap in the sink like it was out to assassinate him. "What happened?" I asked and rushed towards him.

"I was washing my hands and I turned the red one because the water was too cold and it burned me!" He said, I gently took his burnt hand and led him to the sink.

I turned off the hot water and let the sink run cold again. I pulled his hand towards the water but he resisted. "Trust me?" I asked softly, my heart wouldn't let me make fun of his fragile state. He nodded and I put it under the cold water. He sighed in pleasure as his burnt hand cooled.

"Thank you." He murmured. I took his face in my hands and kissed his forehead.

"I have just what you need to get over your ordeal." I said, pulling him into the kitchen.

"What!" He asked excitedly, his hand all but forgotten.

"POPCORN!" I yelled cheerfully and I began showing him the process of making popcorn in the pan.

Later that night, I tucked Castiel into bed and headed to my own room. I flipped off the light switch and snuggled under the crisp covers. Hotels were so much nicer then motels, Dean and Sam should totally invest more in their sleeping arrangements.

I had just reached that state of almost-asleepiness when I felt the covers pull off me and the cold body of Castiel slid in beside me.

"Castiel? What are you doing?" I asked sleepily, not bothering to open my eyes. If it was a demon they could kill me, I was too tired to care.

"I can't sleep." Castiel murmured snuggling closer to me. I lifted my head up and he slid under so my face was pressed against his chest.

"Why not?" I queried as I inhale. He smelled like rain, new sheets and that perfect men smell that made girls swoon.

"I have never slept before, at least not intentionally. I am concerned." Castiel admitted, he sounded pretty damn sleepy to me.

"About what?"

"Not waking up again." He said softly

"Castiel do you trust me?" I questioned for the second time that night.

"Of course." He said without missing a beat. My heart fluttered and I tried not to dwell on the fact he wasn't wearing anything except a loose white top and underwear.

I opened my eyes and looked into the worried storm of his blue ones. "Then trust me when I say you'll be fine. Go to sleep, before I knock you unconscious so _I _can sleep."

Only as I was falling asleep did I realise that the way we were sleeping was so not okay. As an Angel he had no understanding of personal space, and what we were doing now definitely crossed the friends-only boundary. Hopefully he wouldn't take this as normal behaviour and snuggle up to Dean in the middle of the night when we reached the bunker. I cringed; there was an awkward conversation in the making, giving Castiel personal space 101, great.

But if I was honest to myself, this was probably the best sleep of my life, might as well enjoy it. I relaxed to the steady heartbeat of the newly human Angel and welcomed darkness with open arms. I'd probably get a special Hell designed just for me for this, but screw it; I was too tired to care.

* * *

I woke up early and carefully got out of bed to avoid waking Castiel. Who was peacefully snoring on the bed, he looked like a little Angel. The thought made me giggle and then scold myself at my inappropriate joke. I had a quick shower and got back into my Walmart get up. I laid out clothes for Castiel, thanking yesterday's Bethany for having the foresight to buy more underwear. I began making French toast which I had factored in on our late night shopping trip, quietly humming along to the radio as I furiously mixed the eggs into the mixture.

I heard a yelled from my room. "Bethany!" Castiel came tearing out of the room looking for me.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I dropped what I was doing and turned to Castiel. "It's okay I was just making breakfast, I was –" I was cut off when he pulled me into a tight frantic embrace.

"I was worried." He said fearfully, his voice muffled by my hair. "I woke up and you weren't there." I ran my fingers through his hair; he really was like a child. He had completely lost all confidence without his Angelic Powers.

"It's ok, I'm fine, see, no bad guys here." I spread my arms wide, slowly detaching myself to get back to our breakfast. He trailed after me; I made a mental note to never leave Castiel wondering where I was again. "See no demons, just some delicious French toast that will make your tastebuds explode."

Castiel clapped his hand to this mouth in alarm and backed away from the food in horror. I laughed, "Don't worry Castiel it is just an expression, it means that you will love the food." I placed a plate in front of him and he poked it with his fork suspiciously. "It really is safe to eat." I said; I shoved a forkful in my mouth, chewed, swallowed and then stuck my tongue out to show that it wasn't blown to bits.

Only after this childish display did he begin eating his food with caution. But it only took one bite and he started shovelling it in. I smirked and resumed eating.

"This is the best food I have ever tasted." He said and leaned over the table and kissed my cheek again. I felt the straps of the apron burn into my skin as I blushed.

"You haven't tried Sam's waffles they are heavenly." The word slipped out and I winced. But Castiel continued eating, not seeming to notice. Phew, close call.

"So what are we doing today?" He asked as he all but licked his plate clean.

"Well, I was going to buy some better clothes, maybe get that trench coat of yours dry-cleaned and then I am going to an occult store and buy you and me some anti-possession amulets." I said cheerfully as I loaded the dishes in the sink and washed them quickly.

"What about Dean, and Sam?" Castiel asked.

"Sam and Dean won't be there until at least tomorrow, from what you told me. So we have until then to get some things done. And getting us safe from monsters, demon and other things that go bump in the night is one of them." I told him as I dried the last dish.

"Bethany," Castiel murmured as he watched me put my shoes on and tie up my damp hair. "Can you teach me to um, use the shower?" I smacked myself mentally; the poor guy knew nothing about anything and I was supposed to be helping him out.

"Sure thing Castiel." I said and lead him to the bathroom. I taught him how to shave his beard, which was pretty successful considering his teacher, has never shaved her face in her life. I also taught him the basics and was going through brushing teeth when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered, miming how Castiel should clean his tongue.

_Bethany! You're alive! Thank God!_

"Hey there Dean, just a second." I broke off the phone and instructed to Castiel. "Now spit it out into the sink."

_What are you doing?_

"I am teaching Castiel to brush his teeth; did you know that Angel's don't have to worry about oral hygiene?"

_CAS IS WITH YOU!_

I leaned away from the phone as Dean screamed into the phone.

_THANK GOD! Is he ok? What happened with Metatron? Where are you guys?_

"He's fine and we're in a little town four hours from the bunker." I said as I handed Castiel a towel to wipe his mouth.

_We're about a day away, so meet us then ok?_

"Sure thing Dean, we'll be there tomorrow." I told him.

_And thanks for looking after Cas, I imagine his Angelic butt is frustrated._

My eyes widened, he didn't know, but it wasn't my place to tell. So I just whispered into the phone, "You so owe me, big time." and hung up, turning my attention back to Castiel.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! So here is the next chapter, I hope you like it! As usual any comments, tips, complaints, drop me a review or send me a message. It's always nice to hear what other people think. Oh and since we are now heading into AU territory, is there anything you guys want to see happen? Maybe you want someone to show up? Certain things from season 9 to happen, or not happen? Please if you think of an idea don't be afraid to tell me!****So that's all folks! Until next week! :)**


	5. Shopping With Little Angels

Chapter 5: Shopping With Little Angels

He was standing in front of the shower like it was his Everest. I sniggered at his determined expression. "Ok Castiel, first things first, turn the shower on, twist the red one. No!" I snatched his curious hand away before he got burnt again. "Turn the blue one first."

He obeyed and then placed his hand under the running water. "It's too cold." He complained.

I rolled my eyes, he was such a baby. "Then gently rewind the blue one until you get the desired temperature. I'm going to go find some towels." I left the room hoping that he wouldn't destroy something or break his neck.

I found some fluffy white towels and returned to the bathroom, only to find a full frontal view of Castiel as he waited for me. "WOAH!" I yelled alarmed, covering my eyes. "Castiel sweetie, friends don't um, reveal themselves naked to other friends. If the water is the way you want it, hop in the shower and close the door."

He got in the shower and shut the glass door, which was fogging up. So I was safe to remove my eyes and my brain and wash them out with methylated spirits. Wow that went fantastically. "Now what?" He called from the shower.

"Okay there should be some soap, wet it and rub it in your hands and wipe the foam all over yourself. Then rinse." I stood outside the shower as I waited for him to complete my instructions.

"Done." I heard over the sounds of running water.

"Ok, now look for a bottle marked shampoo, squirt some in your hand and rub it in your hair." This is possibly the weirdest conversation I have ever had. And this was after the other bathroom incident. I heard the sounds of squirting, "Ok now rinse it out under the water." I said as I waited. It was fine until I heard a yelp of pain and then Castiel tumbled out of the shower with shampoo in his eyes.

"Bethany! It stings!" He cried in pain. I jerked him over to the sink and rinsed out his eyes as he spluttered.

"There, it's ok, open your eyes now. It's all gone." I said, trying to hid my amusement. He blinked a few times and then looked at me miserably.

"I am a terrible human." He said sadly as I averted my eyes and handed him a towel.

"No you're not," I consoled. "Humans have a decade or so to get taught this stuff by their parents. You've only had a day and me as a teacher, it's called a learning curve."

He still looked defeated as he hung his head.

"Come on." I patted his back. "Get back on the horse." He looked at me confused. "Back in the shower, Assbutt." I explained. He smiled at my joke and I took a mental note to thank Sam for telling me that story. He got back in the shower and after a crash course on how to rinse shampoo safely and how to use conditioner he was dressed and ready to go within the hour. Not bad for my first day as a parent.

Besides from putting a lead on him, I was struggling to control Castiel as we went down to the hotel's car park. Sighing in defeat I grabbed his hand, forcing him to walk beside me. He didn't seem to mind and I was coming to realise that Angel's revelled in lack of personal space.

However now he didn't want to let go of my hand. Typical, I got stuck with the clingy Angel.

"Castiel if you want to go anywhere, you need to let go of my hand so I can drive." I reminded him.

"Oh, sorry." He let go of my hand and went to fiddling with the glove box, which for some reason he found fascinating. "I don't think I've ever road shotgun on purpose before." He said surprised.

"You can pick something to listen to if you want." I replied tilting my head to the radio. "All Dean left me was classic rock, so you might want to find a radio station."

Castiel looked at me with wide eyes, "But the driver is supposed to pick the music." He said terrified, like I was defying his believe system. I sighed and turned on the radio station finding the local channel and was pleased with the result.

_Just as every cop is a criminal  
And all the sinners saints  
As heads is tails  
Just call me Lucifer  
Cause I'm in need of some restraint  
So if you meet me  
Have some courtesy  
Have some sympathy, and some taste  
Use all your well-learned politesse  
Or I'll lay your soul to waste_

I sang along loudly. Then actually realising I had an Angel in the car that was killed by his brother Lucifer, I shut it off. Castiel was looking at the radio like it had turned into said brother. "Are you okay?" I asked, kicking myself for not realising that he might be uncomfortable.

"You are a talented singer." He simply replied.

After explaining to him how dry-cleaning worked and finally getting him to trust a stranger with his precious trench coat, did we get to hit the mall. I was relatively quick, only going into shops that I knew would stock clothes I liked. Castiel's attire took a little while longer, between his refined tastes and every single bloody member of the female staff, in every single store flirting with him shamelessly. He, of course, was oblivious, which made them frustrated and me hiccupping after I laughed so hard.

With two new wardrobes being sent to our Hotel room, we moved through the mall looking for an occult store. This search didn't last very long however, because Castiel was hungry and I soon discovered that he was grumpy when he was hungry.

"I would like food now." He said.

I rolled my eyes, "Sure thing Castiel, what do you want to eat?"

He thought about it for a moment, "Hamburgers…Or popcorn…Or French toast. I liked those."

I let out a sigh, "You can't eat hamburgers, popcorn and French toast for the rest of your life." I said annoyed as I steered us to the sushi bar.

Castiel tilted his head as he frowned at the selection of sushi on the menu. "Why not?" He demanded.

"Because humans need a healthy balanced diet to survive, that's why not." I snapped back. I turned to the counter and ordered our lunch in perfect Japanese. Castiel eyes lit up in surprise.

"What now?" I asked.

"That was Japanese, you do realise you just spoke Japanese right?" He looked honestly anxious for my well-being. Like speaking another language was a terrible disease. I didn't know where to be touched by his concern or laugh.

"Yes Castiel, the man was Japanese and it was a Japanese restaurant." I explained patiently.

He put his hand over mine, his face etched with worry. "Sometimes I speak Enochian by accident." He offered. Like if I heard a similar tale of woe, I would be more open to talking about my 'condition'.

I giggled, "Look at his shirt Castiel." I pointed at the man who served us. Castiel squinted at the label under his nametag. – _Please excuse me, I am still learning English, I'm from Japan_ - "All I was trying to do was make him more comfortable."

Castiel nodded with sudden understanding and bit into his sushi. He pulled a face, "This tastes weird."

"It's the seaweed, now quit your whining and eat what's given to you." I scolded and he began eating his food obediently. But not without pulling disgusted faces when he thought I wasn't looking.

We found the occult store and I walked straight up to the counter, they were displaying Angel sigils. Castiel tilted his head as he studied them, "They won't work." He said.

"What boy, you don't believe in Angels?" The lady across the counter snapped. She was short, plump and her blonde hair was peppered with grey in her bun.

"Of course I believe in Angels, but after last night however…." He trailed off, subconsciously rolling his shoulders. I guess he missed his wings or something.

The lady's face drained of colour as her brown eyes widened. She looked at him in pity, "Anything you want, free of charge." She said sadly. I shot her a warning look and shook my head when she opened her mouth to say more.

"We need protection amulets, against possession." I said to her quietly as Castiel wandered over to the garden statues of Angels kept at the back of the store.

"Of course." She nodded vigorously and scurried to the back; she came out with a large wooden box and pulled out two symbols made of twisted metal on long black string. She let me inspect them carefully before nodding. She wrapped them up for us and then placed them in a paper bag along with a bundle of sage and a tarot card pack.

"To keep you safe." She explained. I nodded my thanks and when Castiel wasn't looking handed her some money. She tried to refuse but I insisted. "There are no more Angels, God's taking a vacation and the guy running the show is pure evil. He's the only Angel I've met who wasn't a dick, so no one else is going to repay you for your kindness." I told her.

Her face kind of crumpled and she took the money quietly. Castiel came back gently cradling a tiny ceramic angel in his palms. "Bethany look!" He exclaimed with childlike wonder. "It looks just like me!" The little baby angel had brown curls and the biggest blue eyes I had ever seen.

I chuckled and handed it to the lady to wrap up. She placed it in the bag with the other things and gave me a questioning look. I shrugged, "Castiel, what do we say to nice people?" I asked.

Castiel bashfully smiled and gave her a serene glance. "Thank you." He told her in his gruff voice.

"You're welcome." The lady stuttered surprised. At the Angel or the way I was telling him what to do, I don't know. We left the store quickly and Castiel threaded his hands through mine.

"Thank you Bethany." He said softly.

I put my hand up to stop him from going any further. "Now Dean and I don't agree on much, but I am going to take a leaf out of his book and stop you right there. No chick-flick moments."

* * *

That night Castiel demanded that he be in charge of cooking dinner. Somehow he had managed to find a cookbook and was busy using the ingredients we had bought yesterday. When he was distractedly frowning at the book's instructions, I snuck a bag of Cheetos and some Twinkies into my bedroom, just in case. It was actually quite funny; he wouldn't let me near the kitchen to see what he was doing, so I sat on the couch watching some brain cell killing sitcom.

Eventually he had finished and placed in front a steaming bowl of…Chicken soup. I picked up my spoon and looked at Castiel. He was watching me with hopeful eyes, "It will make your tastebuds explode." He told me smiling.

I sniffed it, it smelled good. Carefully I took a mouthful and swallowed, my mouth tingled with the tastes of carrot, potato, chicken and other amazing ingredients. "Castiel this is incredible!" I exclaimed and took another spoonful.

He blushed at the compliment, "I heard you say that it was your favourite." I was touched, I had mentioned it once in passing and he had made his first ever meal just for me. I pulled my chair around the table to sit next to him. I leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned at the last second to see what I was doing and our mouths collided.

After I got over the shock of it, it was the best kiss of my life. I probably should have broken away and apologised, but I mean it was his first real kiss, if I stopped it would ruin it for him. My hands found the back of his neck and I pulled him closer to me. He responded with equal enthusiasm, it was a little sloppy and inexperienced, but that's what made it so perfect. I didn't want to break away but I needed oxygen, damn the will to breath.

"I shouldn't have done that." I said breathlessly. This was bad, very, very bad. It wasn't him dammit Bethany! This wasn't your boyfriend, stop freaking treating Castiel like _him_! "I'm sorry, I can't, I just can't." I stood up and fled to my room.

I looked at the snacks I had hid in there, but I wasn't hungry anymore.

* * *

**A/N: First of all I do not own the song 'Sympathy for the Devil' and if you were wondering its the Guns 'n' Roses version. Now for apologies, this is a little bit late, but I'm actually quite sick at the moment and I am going to go see a doctor today. Which is also why this chapter is shorter but hopefully not too crazy. I've been on pain killers all week so don't be mad if someone is a little off character or something like that.**

**So what do you guys think? Now you may be wondering why I keep putting music, or mentioning music in this thing and it is for a reason! Not just for story padding purposes, it will all be revealed soon enough. As always, questions, thoughts, comments, criticism are all welcome, either review or message me. And finally a call out to all of you reading (if there is anyone reading) I'm writing this for those who love Supernatural, if you want someone to join the gang, something to happen, something not to happen tell me and I will try to make it so. I already have a few 'guest appearances' lined up due to requests so don't be afraid to ask!**

**A special thanks to Jennifer and SummerElainee for reviewing! You guys made my week! :D**

**So thanks for reading and enjoy! **


	6. Dead Or Alive

**A/N: PLEASE READ THIS! - Bethany's last name. I fear I may have confused a few of you! Gee what an amateur I am. See it originally was Seraphim, but then after much deliberation I changed it last minute and then I confused myself and well yeah. So I think in chapter three or somewhere near there I said Seraphim instead of Malakh. Anyway I fixed it up so I hope I didn't confuse you all. If I do it again, please tell me or yell at me or something, but hopefully I will not make the same mistake twice. Hopefully. Anyway on with the chapter!**

Chapter 6: Dead Or Alive:

_"So there is this thing, I've been meaning to ask you." He said, leaning across the table. I leaned closer too, not caring that we were in a restaurant, with other people. I saw only him, God I needed some serious therapy._

_"Oh?" I asked as I stared into those blue eyes, those eyes that captured me in the first place._

_"Well you see, there is this girl, I really like her." He began. "And I wanted to give her this." He pulled out a small black velvet box. It took all of my strength not to squeal in delight. He opened it up to reveal an engagement ring. "But I didn't know if it was good enough. I was wondering what your thoughts on it were."_

_"I think she'll like it very, very much." I said softly as my hands touched it of their own accord. It was like I had to know this was real._

_"And what do you think her answer will be, I mean, am I good enough for her?" He asked, his blue eyes sincere._

_"I think she'd say yes." I said, he grinned and slid the ring on my finger. "Yes."_

I sat bolt upright in bed, gasping to breathe. I wiped my brow which was full of sweat. I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to cry. A few tears escaped and I wiped them away. God I missed him, more than anything. Was that even possible? Missing a figment of your imagination?

I heard a moan from the room next door. "Stop!" I heard Castiel yell. I ran into his room and looked down at Castiel, who seemed to be getting as good a sleep as I had. He was tossing and turning, the sheets tangled around him. "No…" He murmured as he twisted around agitated.

I shook him violently, trying to wake him up. "Castiel!" I called at his sleeping form. He turned around again, shaking his head and muttering in his sleep. "CASTIEL!" I yelled forcing him awake. He sat up in surprise covered in perspiration, trembling with fear as his eyes scanned the room wildly.

"Metatron." He said feverishly as he looked around us. He leaned against me exhausted as he caught his breath. "I thought I…." He trailed off as I pulled my arms around him.

"I didn't sleep well either." I said, pulling at my shirt which was sticking to my back. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I looked over at the damp towel still hanging on his door. Inspiration hit and I gave Castiel an encouraging smile. "I have an idea."

* * *

The hotel's twenty-four hour pool was heaven, and conveniently empty at two-thirty in the morning. Castiel and I splashed around for hours; I taught him basic swimming techniques and how to survive in the water. We stuck to the shallow end, I was afraid of deep water.

We went back to our room at five and began to pack for the bunker. We packed our clothes, leftover food and Castiel insisted we bring the apron as well. By seven we were on the road home.

I blasted the radio and Dead or Alive flooded the car, I laughed and belted out the words at top volume.

_Walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back  
I play for keeps, 'cause I might not make it back  
I been everywhere, and I'm standing tall  
I've seen a million faces an I've rocked them all_

_I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride_  
_I'm wanted dead or alive_  
_I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side_  
_I'm wanted dead or alive_  
_And I ride, dead or alive_  
_I still drive, dead or alive_

"DEAD OR ALIVE!" I yelled, laughing. Suddenly Castiel joined in and we both yelled our face's off like idiots. I rolled the windows down and we screamed into the wind. "DEAD OR ALIVE! DEAD OR ALIVE!"

We laughed so hard, tears were streaming down my cheeks, and it was just one of those moments. One of the moments that I wished I could capture and live in forever; it was the calm before the storm, one singularly perfect moment before one really bad one.

I heard the sound of a freight train and black smoke enveloped the car like a second skin. I felt the steel of the car buckle around me, I felt a flash of white hot searing pain everywhere and I heard someone screaming. My vision clouded as I felt someone drag me out of the car. I looked up numbly to see a blurry Castiel looking at me with panicked eyes. "Bethany!" He yelled. I opened my mouth to reply, to tell him everything was going to be fine, but I couldn't move a muscle.

"Stay awake Bethany, Sam and Dean are coming, no, no, stay with me Bethany. Don't close those eyes, don't you dare close those eyes." He demanded, shaking me. Why? I wanted to ask, I was just so tired, just a little rest, five minutes. "I need you Bethany, stay awake, stay with me." His rough voice was shaking as he held up my head.

I heard the sounds of another car, how long had we been in the wreck? Castiel grabbed my hand as two other blurry figures entered my vision. I poured all my remaining effort into squeezing his hand. My fingers responded and I tightened my grip. He gave me a confused look as I closed my eyes. The last thing I saw was Castiel's look of complete understanding and complete horror.

* * *

**CASTIEL POV:**

I felt her squeeze my hand as her grey eyes closed, 'Goodbye.' the gesture seemed to mean. "Bethany, Bethany, Bethany!" I cried in anguish. I shook her limp body, but she made no movements. Her face was a wreck of blood and dirt. Her arms were ripped to shreds and at least two ribs were broken. I felt Dean and Sam approach us and I looked up to the green eyes of the hunter I called my friend. I croaked out two words, "Save her."

Dean sprang into action; he helped me carry Bethany to the car while Sam called the nearest hospital to tell them we were coming. I slid painfully into the back of the Impala as Dean forced the engine to live. I cradled her head in my hands gently as her peaceful face flickered with pain at the movement of the car. "Drive faster Dean." I growled as I felt more blood seep into my hands from the back of her head.

"Why don't you just heal her?" Dean asked frantically as he sped around the corner. Sam turned around from the front seat to hand me a ripped up cloth. I applied pressure to her wounds. "Come on Cas, you must have enough mojo to at least get rid of the head trauma." He yelled over the sounds of the roaring engine. Dean was pushing the Impala to her limits as he approached the hospital at top speed.

"Cas?" Sam asked me with big brown eyes. He looked concerned for me, but realization dawned on his face as my helpless eyes looked at him.

"I can't." I said hoarsely as the hospital leered into view.

"Why not?" Dean yelled annoyed, "She's done so much for you Cas, she's dying, patch her up you dick."

"I'm not an Angel anymore Dean!" I yelled my voice broke as I glared at the green eyes that meet mine in the rear-view mirror. "I don't have powers! I couldn't save heaven, I couldn't save the Angels and I can't save her!"

Dean opened and closed his mouth in shock. He pulled up in front of the hospital and the doors opened. Doctors and nurses descended on us like angry locusts as they carried Bethany and I off into the hospital.

* * *

**DEAN POV:**

"Why not?" I yelled annoyed, "She's done so much for you Cas, she's dying, patch her up you dick." I winced; I didn't mean my words to be so harsh. But Bethany had looked after him when she didn't have too. She had stuck to her promise and tried to get herself home when I told her too. She had generally been a good person and I had grown to respect her over the short time I'd known her.

"I'm not an Angel anymore Dean!" Castiel yelled, his voice breaking in pain. I looked up at the rear-view mirror as the stormy blue swirl of his eyes glared at me viciously, "I don't have any powers! I couldn't save heaven, I couldn't save the Angels and I can't save her!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I mean what do you say to that? He sounded so broken, so angry and in pain. He was distraught, I hadn't gotten used to this new, human Castiel and I was shocked. I had never seen this man more vulnerable.

I pulled up to the hospital and the doctors and nurses took Bethany and Castiel into the ER. Sam and I hurried after them, following the doctors into the emergency room. I tried to follow them into surgery, but a nurse blocked me. "Sir you can't go with them, you need to let the Doctor's do their jobs." she told me. I wanted to hit something.

"My two friends just got wheeled in their lady; I need to see what's going on." I told her harshly.

"Leave the nurse alone Dean. She can't help us." Sam said, pulling me away from the nurse. He grabbed the clip board that she held out to me and began filling it out. "Shit." He murmured as his hand hovered over the paper. "What's Bethany's blood-type? Hell, what's Cas's blood type? Does he even have a blood type?"

I swore heavily as I read the questions on the page in front of Sam. "I don't know." I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. Hell I didn't even know what to write for their last names.

Sam began scrawling random stuff on the page.

Name: Bethany Malakh, Castiel Novak.

Age: 28, 30

Blood Type: Unknown, Unknown

Cause of Injury: Car Crash, cause unknown

"Malakh? Novak? 28 and 30?" I asked as I read what he wrote.

Sam shrugged, "Malakh is what's written on Bethany's card and Novak was Jimmy's last name, Bethany's twenty eight, and Cas looks thirty-ish. I don't know man, but they need this information or they won't be able to treat them." he told me.

"So now what?" I asked the heavens, like we hadn't been tested enough. I leaned back against the chair. So I was staring up at the tiled roof. I hated hospitals; they smelled like bleach and death.

"Now we wait and hope by some miracle of some god that they make it the hell outta this hospital." Sam replied, obviously thinking I was asking him. I rolled my head to look at my younger brother.

"And when has it ever been that easy?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows.

Sam sighed, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples. "Never." He admitted.

"My point exactly." We were in for a rough night.

* * *

**A/N: I do not own 'Dead or Alive' by Bon Jovi, but it's a good song and I put it in there because…..Well that would be a spoiler now wouldn't it! Anyway, sorry this jumps POV a bit. I think it is the only chapter that will do so. I don't like writing from canon characters perspective because I feel like I never do them justice.**

**Ooooooh tension and angst, two very annoying things that I love to write! Next chapter will have two of my favourite characters in it as some people requested. If anyone else would like someone else to show up, just ask, even if their dead or something I'll figure out a way to sneak them in there. I like a challenge ;) **

**A shout out to DragonHeart456 and Jennifer, thanks for reviewing guys, you made me smile.**

**In response to Jennifer: Well you see due to where I live I haven't actually ****_seen_**** Season 9 yet! (I know, I'm so deprived.) But thanks to the magic of social media and Youtube I do know the general idea of it. I've got some bits from actual scenes that I really liked that I've added and some characters that I will be bringing to the party. Of course with Bethany will be in there so I'll have to alter it a little bit. So yeah I will follow some story lines from the show. HOWEVER on that note, if there is something you guys, as readers, would love to happen or not happen I am happy to add or remove. Unfortunately some things will have to happen for story reasons. I'm rambling on now so I'll finish there, but if that doesn't actually answer your question then I'll try again next week XD **

**So questions, comments, tips, criticism, shoot me a message or write a review. I do read them all and will try to respond to any questions ASAP. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it; the last two chapters have been a bit short, so next one will be nice and big, I promise.**


	7. Our Chuck, Who Art In Heaven

**For Aoife and Scarlet, because you asked so nicely:**

Chapter 7: Our Chuck, Who Art In Heaven

I was standing in front of Castiel as he shook my body. My body? "Shit!" I yelled, looking around. The Prius was turned over on the side of the road, smoking as the wheels spun aimlessly. I saw the Impala squeal to a halt and Dean and Sam came running over to us.

"Save her." Castiel choked out. Dean sprang into action; he helped Castiel carry me to the car. Castiel looked like a wreck, his shoulder was bleeding and his face was cut to bits. But he had no concern for his own wellbeing as he cradled my head in the back of the Impala.

"Castiel! I'm right here, don't worry! I'm fine see?" I ran over to him and tried to touch his shoulder. My fingers went through his body, "Castiel?" I waved my hand in front of his face but he had no reaction. The door of the Impala swung through my chest and slammed shut. I stumbled back, grasping my chest, it felt solid to me.

"Hello Bethany." A voice said behind me and I turned to face the speaker. He was wearing a tailored black suit; his hair was long like Sam's but a raven black. He held a black cane and on his finger a white jewelled ring. He had a long hooked nose and his eyes were like bottomless pits, the colour of coal. "I'm Death, it's a pleasure to meet you." He nodded his head politely.

"You're Death, the horseman." I said calmly, my brain stuttering into overdrive. "I know I should be honoured and all, but uh, if you're here then that's not so good for me. So sorry if I'm not exactly glad to see you."

He smiled at me, Death freaking smiled at me. I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. "That's ok, you are much politer then the last soul I graced with the honour of being reaped by me."

I took a shaky breath to calm myself. "So I'm dead then?" I asked him.

"Not quite yet, no. But soon, so until then you are free to say your last goodbyes. I'll escort you wherever you please." He told me, picking up his cane he held out his hand. I took it and we were teleported into the Impala, which was driving at top speed towards the hospital.

"I'm not an Angel anymore Dean!" Castiel yelled, his voice breaking in pain. "I don't have any powers! I couldn't save heaven, I couldn't save the Angels and I can't save her!" My eyes swam with tears as Castiel's face filled with self-loathing.

"Castiel no," I said helplessly, "don't blame yourself." I reached out to touch his cheek, but my hands went right through him. I turned to Death, "Can't you tell them I'm ok? That it's not his fault?" I asked desperately at the horseman. He shook his head sadly.

"I cannot communicate with them anymore then you can. We can only observe." He told me as the Impala screeched to a halt. I climbed out as the doctors hurried Castiel and my body into the hospital. I didn't want to go into the emergency room, so I sat next to Sam and Dean, Death on my other side.

"Shit." Sam murmured as his hand hovered over the paper. "What's Bethany's blood type?"

"A-B positive." I muttered as I watched their exchange.

"Hell, what's Cas's blood type? Does he even have a blood type?" Sam asked his brother as he glared at the sheet.

Dean swore heavily as he read the questions. "I don't know." He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. I resisted the urge to pat him on the back reassuringly. He probably didn't even know what to put for our last names.

Sam began scrawling on the page in his neat print. I read over his shoulder curiously, Car crash? We crashed? Into what?

"28 and 30?" Dean asked as he too read what Sam wrote.

Sam shrugged, "Malakh is what's written on Bethany's card and Novak was Jimmy's last name, Bethany's twenty eight, and Cas looks thirty-ish." I sniggered, Castiel could be thirty at a stretch, but Jimmy had had a nine year old daughter. Men, they were awful at guessing people ages. Well, I guess it was better than saying Castiel was as old as time itself.

"The Winchesters are terrible at faking identities under pressure." Death noted amused, "for individuals that do it for a living." I nodded in agreement.

"My point exactly." Dean sighed. I looked at the two men sadly; they were in for a rough night.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself. "So now what?" I asked Death, "Do we just hang around until my heart stops beating. A count down to the end?" Even to me that sound god awful, no wonder the horseman hated his job.

Death snapped his fingers and the area around us changed. We were sitting in a large open diner; it had sunshine yellow walls and comfy mahogany booths. A waitress in a yellow uniform came up to the table and smiled at us. "Sorry 'bout that, I didn't see ya'll come in. What can I get for ya today?" She asked.

Death gave her a bored glance, "A piece of your peach cobbler." He replied. She scrawled down his order and turned to me smiling. I gave Death an alarmed look. She could see me? He kicked me under the table.

"I'll just have a cup of tea please." I stuttered in surprise. She gave us one last smile and disappeared off into the kitchen. "She could see me, but Dean, Sam and Castiel couldn't?" I asked confused.

"Only people you do not know can see you. That way the world remains in balance." He replied mysteriously. I didn't know if that answered my question or just gave me more to ask.

"So are we going to get this show on the road? Or making souls wait while you eat your desert is how you get your kicks?" I snapped, finally losing my patience.

Death raised an eyebrow, "Sometimes you humans confound me. You make yourself small when faced with the thought of a greater being. But as soon as that greater being appears. You get all snarky, it doesn't make you any less of an insignificant speck of dust in the vastness of reality. So I really suggest you keep your attitude down to a minimum or I will never get to lay the deal in front of you that you so desperately are praying for."

Well that shut me up. He smirked at me and shook his head. "You really have no memory of what you are do you?" he said to himself as the waitress gave us our orders. He began eating his cobbler delicately.

"What do you mean, what I am?" I asked, trying to keep my temper under control. As I had been so painfully made aware of, Death preferred you to be polite.

He looked at me in a curious amazement. "It's really a tribute to him really; he hasn't been that active since the birth of his son."

"Don't give my trade secrets away now." Another male voice said beside me. I jumped in shock and instinctively grabbed a fork on the table we sat at and shoved it into his chest. The short, brown haired man gave me a loose grin. He had blue eyes and stubble covered his lower jaw. He slowly pulled the fork out and laid it on the table like nothing happened. "That's no way to introduce yourself." He joked.

I gave Death a fearful glance. I can't believe I was hoping freaking Death would keep me safe from this newcomer. I was so, seriously screwed.

"Bethany, God, God, Bethany" Death introduced us lazily, like meeting God was an everyday occurrence.

I held out my hand and God took it warmly. "I go by Chuck these days." He told me brightly.

"Bethany." I said weakly. I was shaking God's hand, and he went by the name Chuck. God wanted me to call him Chuck. I wonder if the Pope called God Chuck. I giggled, Our Chuck, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. I burst into a fit of laughter.

Chuck gave Death a quizzically look, as if to say, what is wrong with her? Death rolled his eyes and gave the other man a bored stare. Why should I know, you created it, it's on you bud. I laughed harder at the thought of Death calling God bud.

"I'm sorry…" I wheezed. "It must-" _giggle _"-be the shock I-" _giggle _"-am not usually like this." It took a while for me to stop laughing. I gulped a glass of water. "So, Chuck," I said when I calmed down. "What brings you to the death day party?"

"Death day?" Chuck said confused. "You do realise the crash was several days ago right?"

I looked at Death with wide eyes. "Several days?" I growled furiously. "What happened to last goodbyes?"

He gave me a condescending look. "What happened to getting the show on the road?"

I gaped, I glanced at Chuck for back-up but he was staring at our waitress. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Could you please stop checking our waitress out?" I demanded. "Your God for goodness sake, you're old enough to be her great times a million grandfather."

Chuck turned his attention back to the conversation. "Sorry." He murmured, grinning bashfully.

Death huffed, "Typical, seems like only one of us is actually paying attention to our job. While the other has abandoned his post, left the world he created to Hell and now is flirting with the local wildlife."

Chuck glared at the other man harshly, "You forget who you're talking to. Show some respect." He threatened.

Death gave him an uninterested look. "And you forget who you're talking to. Earn it." He replied, pushing his finished plate away. I could not believe I was forced to be witness to a pissing match between God and Death.

"What are you children?" I snapped, getting a surprised look from both the higher beings. "I know five year olds who have a higher maturity level then this conversation between the two of you." Chuck murmured an apology and Death gave me a not-so-condescending look. It wasn't an act of contrite but I was taking what I could get.

"Now will someone please tell me what the Hell is going on, before I kill both of you." I asked forcefully.

"Well-" both of them began. Death raised an eyebrow and God waved him ahead. "Well, you died, but Chuck here doesn't think that will work with that tangled master plan of his." Death began, "So we've sent the Winchesters a message and if they figure it out, well, you'll be back in that meat suit of yours faster than you can say heart-failure."

I looked between Death and Chuck. Oh my head hurt. "Master plan?" I dared to ask, "I thought the master plan got thrown away with the whole, no apocalypse."

Chuck shook his head vigorously. "Oh not at all. Everyone thinking we threw out the master plan was part of the master plan. It's all very complicated." You could say that.

"So what do they have to do to wake me up?" I asked them. Please be something really easy, like burning a sage stick or clicking your heels three times.

"It couldn't be something easy," Death said conversationally, "otherwise they would suspect." He glared at Chuck, "However some of us thought of some ingredients that weren't exactly conventional."

I looked between the two of them confused. "Like….?" I trailed off, wanting them to continue.

"Let's see," Death mused, "There was the insane quantity of saffron, and that silver rod plated in gold."

Chuck nodded, "Plus the tears of a ghoul and the skin of a shape-shifter. And the Himalayan rock-salt" He ticked the items off on his fingers.

I was dumbfounded, they didn't really think that the Winchester's would go to all the trouble for me did they?

"And the final ingredient," Death rolled his eyes, "I want it recorded that I was against it."

"What is the final ingredient?" I asked anxiously.

"A kiss!" Chuck said enthusiastically. His eyes gleamed with mischief. "My own special addition." Death rolled his eyes again. Was my love life that abysmal that God had to play match maker?

"A kiss?" I repeated weakly, that was it, I was going to stay dead.

"From a fallen Angel." Chuck grinned, he winked slyly at me. "You're welcome."

I groaned throwing my head in my heads. "That was not helping." I replied, my voice muffled by my palms.

Death chuckled, "That's what I said."

That did not make me feel better, the great higher beings of existence were discussing my relationships. Fan-bloody-tastic. I felt a sharp pain in my chest and I flickered. My whole body phased in and out of existence.

"Right on time." Chuck said smiling.

I was a little freaked out, would shoving my soul back into my body hurt? Would I remember this conversation, or would I wake up with a hole in my memory? I flickered again; I gripped the edge of the table tightly as the room spun.

"Now Bethany, don't be worried, it will be relatively painless. Whether or not you remember this conversation is purely up to you. We are not quite sure if your soul will be able to give your memories to your brain. This particular situation has never happened before." Death told me as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"That's comforting." I groaned as I disappeared and reappeared, it was getting worse. A dull humming was drilling in my ears and I had to concentrate to hear what he was saying to me.

Chuck snapped his finger suddenly; he turned to me and gave me a dazzling smile. "I almost forgot!" Death shot him a warning look as he leaned in close to me. "I almost forgot to tell you what I meant earlier, about what you are!"

Death stopped Chuck from continuing. "You probably shouldn't tell her. It could ruin the master plan." Chuck shrugged.

"First of all, if you remember anything, don't tell the Winchester's you met me." He leaned closer still, I had to focus hard to understand a word he uttered. "My dear Bethany, you were always one of my favourite children. You had something the others didn't. You were always just so _human_." Chuck whispered in my ear.

I flickered again, this time phasing out for longer. My vision began to cloud and it took all of my strength not to collapse onto the floor of the diner.

"No need to make a cliff-hanger out of this, just tell her already." Sarcasm dripping through Death's annoyed words.

Chuck stuck his tongue out at the other man. "Bethany your-"

My eyes widened as he whispered the secret in my ear. No way, that wasn't possible, how could? Then my vision went black and I opened my eyes to see two sapphire blue ones looking down at me.

"Castiel?" I groan foggily. My face scrunched into a frown as his face stayed inches from mine. "Castiel, I like you, I really do. But personal space?" I lift my arms which feel like lead and try to push him off me. Still he hovered above my face, peering at me intently.

I look behind him to see an anxious faced Sam and Dean staring at me. "Get him off me," I growled at them. "Or he'll have to lean an inch from your face next." Castiel broke into a wide grin and pulled me into a fierce hug.

"You are healed." He said gruffly as his embrace tightened. "I was concerned." I laughed and gently patted his back. With some difficultly as it was trailing an IV cord.

I looked at my surroundings; I was in a small hospital room with green walls and white tiled floors. I was lying in a bed and wearing one of those ugly hospital gowns. Banks of machines were hooked up to me and I was obviously being dripped a hell of a lot of pain medication. Sam and Dean were smiling like idiots, a table with strange herbs and objects were obscured from view by their broad backs.

Eventually he let go and regained his composure. I noted that he wasn't wearing a hospital gown though his face was stitched up and he had obvious signs of treatment.

"Why aren't you strapped to a gurney?" I asked confused. Dean chuckled and Sam pulled up chairs for them to sit on. Castiel did not sit on a chair; instead he crossed his legs and made himself comfortable on the end of my bed. This freaked me out a bit; he was always just so formal and awkward. To see him so relaxed and well _human_ was a little unnerving.

"I was discharged last night." Castiel informed me.

"Oh." was all I managed to say. I had this niggling feeling that I had forgotten something, but I couldn't place my finger on it. I tugged at one of the cords attached to me self-consciously, "So what's the prognosis?"

"Well, it's not good." Sam sighed, "You've got three broken ribs, a hairline fracture and some torn muscles. Plus your skin has been torn to shreds." He ticked off my injuries on his fingers, and then gave me a sympathetic look.

"You were lucky to come out of their alive." Dean remarked.

I gestured to the array of hoodoo on the table. "Something tells me I didn't." All three of them hung their heads. "What did you do?" I demanded, straightening up. They better not have done something stupid to save my ass.

"There was some ritual stuff," Dean said, not looking at me.

"We didn't sell our souls or anything!" Sam said quickly as I was ready to jump out of the bed and attack them. "We were ninety per cent sure it was safe!"

I settled back down in the bed, motioning them to come closer. All three of them leaned towards me. I hit them on the head, hard.

"What was that for?" They yelled, Dean shook his head and Sam had his hand pressed to the blossoming red hand print on his face, Castiel just looked wounded.

"That," I snarled. "Was for the other ten per cent! You could have died, you could have ended up soulless, God knows what could have happened! Just because you read about some ritual in an old book does not mean you should just start chanting and sacrificing!" I scolded. "If I told you to jump off a cliff would you do it?"

"If it made you wake up, yes." Castiel said quietly. That stopped me in my tracks, my face softened as I looked at him.

"I'm not worth the risk." I said quietly.

"Well we decided you were, get over it." Dean said. "Now do you remember anything about the crash?"

"Except for the fact that there was nothing for me to crash into? No." I said.

"We found something." Sam said and glanced at his brother. "It gives us a clue as to why the car flipped."

"What?" I asked.

Sam held out a sandwich bag filled with yellow powder. "Sulphur."

**A/N: DUH-DUH-DUUUHHHH! Hello again, is it just me or has it been a long week? Maybe I am just so excited to get this chapter up, Death and Chuck, two very fun characters to write! I loved it, guest stars are fun! On that note: If you would like anyone to show up, have some fun, you know anything at all. DO NOT BE AFRAID! Please message me or review and tell me who you want to see in this fic.**

**A million thank yous and virtual hugs to Jennifer, thanks for your reviews you made me smile!**

**So once again, comments: the good, the bad and the constructive please feel free. I don't bite, much. Also questions etc. shoot me a message I'll either reply straight away or when I upload the next chapter.**

**Sorry this took a little while, I usually do it right after I get home but I went shopping for Valentines day (Happy Valentines Day BTW!). My friends and I do this thing where we put our names and who our dream Valentine would be and then we draw and you have to shop as them. Like Secret Santa but with Valentines. (Feel free to steal, I haven't trade marked)**

**See you all next week, I hope you enjoyed! **


	8. Doctor Sexy MD

Chapter 8: Doctor Sexy M.D.

Sam and Dean were unable to convince the doctors to let me out of the hospital. They tried desperately under the guise that I could heal from my injuries at home. They refused, however what the doctor's didn't know and what we were pleased to discover, was that the ritual that brought me back to life. Did not only resurrect me, but also heal all of my injuries. It still was painful if I moved a lot, but they reckoned I would be fine in a couple of days. That still led to them sneaking me out of the hospital in a wheelchair, since I was supposedly 'injured'.

"Stop giggling, you're going to attract attention." Dean complained as he walked beside us.

"I can't help it." I said between giggles, "You look ridiculous!" Dean was decked out in a doctor's uniform. He tried to be all 'taking-one-for-the-team' but I knew he was secretly fangirling on the inside. Sam had revealed to me Dean's obsession with Doctor Sexy M.D.

"Jesus Bethany your heavy!" Sam complained as he pushed the chair along at a snail's pace. I raised my eyebrows before turning behind me and clicking off the brake. Sam's face flushed scarlet. "Oh, why didn't you tell me that before?" I giggled again but stopped when Dean glared at me.

"What does my half-brother have to do with Sam's inability to operate a wheelchair?" Castiel asked confused. He looked between Sam and I, obviously lost. Of course that set me off into another fit of laughter. This time Dean didn't yell at me because he was too busy trying to hide his grin. I felt Sam supressing his amusement as his shoulders shook with silent laughter.

I patted Castiel's hand affectionately. "Don't worry Castiel, it's just an expression." That quelled his confused look and he nodded with understanding.

"Kevin's out the back ready to help us." Castiel told them as he read the message the prophet had sent to Dean's phone. He didn't have one of his own yet, but he was getting quite handy with modern technology. Now all we needed to do was put him on Facebook.

We turned another corner and began our swift approach to the doors. We managed to get about five meters from the door when a nurse stopped us. "What are you doing?"

As Sam turned us around I quickly arranged my features into a tired, sick expression. "Oh well, we were just going for a walk, my sister wanted some fresh air." Sam explained.

She turned to Castiel giving him an inquisitive look. "She's my-" Castiel stuttered. After all our careful planning we had forgotten to give him a cover story. He was hopeless at lying, my mind was screaming at me to do something.

"-girlfriend!" I finished hurriedly. "I'm his girlfriend."

"The Doctor here was accompanying us so that we wouldn't have to worry if something happened." Sam continued, giving me a weird glance as I threaded my fingers through Castiel's.

The nurse frowned as she glanced at Dean. "I'm never seen you here before."

"I was just transferred from Seattle Mercy Hospital." Dean said smoothly.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll just check that with my supervisor." The nurse said primly. She glared at us, as if to say wait here and hurried off around the corner.

"GO!" Dean hissed as we ran towards the exit making a break for it.

We burst through the doors and ran towards the Impala, which an impatient Kevin was waiting by. Dean hurried to the front seat as Kevin and Castiel helped me into the back. "What took you so long?" Kevin complained as Sam ditched the wheel chair and came sprinting back to the car.

"A nurse questioned us and we had to wait for her to leave to escape." Castiel explained as Dean started the engine and drove away at top speed.

"Dean had to do some quick thinking." I said admiringly. "Good call on the transfer by the way, but where did you come up with Seattle Mercy Hospital?"

Dean smirked, "Doctor Sexy M.D." I burst out giggling and pretty soon we were all laughing at the thought of that nurse explaining to her supervisor that one of her patients were taken by a doctor from a soap opera.

"Well all I can say is thank God you got me out of there; I did _not_ want to stay in a hospital where the doctor's weren't even hot." I grimaced at the thought.

"They weren't that bad." Dean commented from the front and we all turned to stare at him incredulously. "What?" He said defensively. We continued staring at him.

"Sometimes dude, you are so weird." Sam said shaking his head.

I turned to Kevin and held out my hand, "I don't think we've been formerly introduced, I'm Bethany the recently resurrected."

"I'm Kevin the Prophet of the Lord." Kevin said smiling as he took my hand. "Dean said you're a college professor?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I don't think he believes me. And that's why he keeps hoping someone will hear about it and prove me wrong." Kevin and I laughed when Dean murmured something about 'too young' and 'freaking advanced placement'.

I sighed and leaned against the back of the seat. My ribs were hurting a little and I still had the weird feeling I had forgotten something. I had been thinking about it for days and every memory was accounted for, it was just this strange thing I couldn't shake. Castiel began absentmindedly tracing circles on my hand with his thumb, it was relaxing and I focused on that instead of analysing my memory capacity.

A thought occurred to me and without opening my eyes I voiced my thought out loud. "Speaking about recently resurrected, I was wondering where did you get the ritual to do that in the first place?"

"Tessa gave it to us." Dean said I heard him shift in his seat uncomfortably. "She said that because you were reaped by a certain reaper, you could be brought back. She gave us a list of ingredients and then we set to work."

"What ingredients?" I asked curiously.

"Well, there was the insane quantity of saffron, and that silver rod plated in gold plus the tears of a ghoul and the skin of a shape-shifter. And the Himalayan rock-salt" Sam replied as he thought about it.

"And the final ingredient." Dean said his voice suggestive. "Was an interesting addition.

"A kiss from a fallen Angel." I murmured.

"How'd you know?" Sam asked surprised.

My eyes fluttered open as realisation dawned on me. It was coming back to me. "Someone told me," I frowned concentrating. I remembered a man, with a black cane and white ring. "I think…." I said slowly. "I think it was Death."

Kevin looked bewildered and I felt Castiel stiffen. "The horseman?" Dean demanded as he suddenly swerved the car to avoid traffic.

"I think so?" I said unsure, it came out more of a question. I think I was hoping someone in the car would contradict me and I could relax, but not another word was uttered in response.

"So that's that Tessa meant by a certain reaper." Dean cursed. "She could have told me, the little-"

"-It doesn't matter about Tessa, the point is he seems to have tampered with Bethany's memory." Castiel interrupted distraught. He grabbed my head with his hands and began inspecting me, peering into my eyes and taking my temperature.

I shook him off gently, "No, it's not his fault. I think it's just a faulty signal." I gave Castiel's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"A faulty signal?" Sam asked. "Like you could remember but something's gone wrong?"

"I don't know, it's all hazy." I complained. I massaged my temples; it hurt to think about it.

* * *

We pulled into the bunker's garage and with the help of Castiel I managed to get comfortable in my new room. He hesitated by the door, watching me with uneasy eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked from the mountain of blankets and pillows that he had heaped onto my bed.

He frowned, his face a picture of concern. "I feel uncomfortable leaving you alone." His frown deepened, like he didn't know why.

"Why?" I asked, hiding my smile.

"I am concerned for your well-being and staying in your presence seems to relieve that feeling." Castiel said tilting his head to give me a confused look. "It is a strange sensation, when I am away from you, my chest tightens and I cannot stop thinking about things that could happen to you."

"I think what your feeling is worry," I said, sitting up on the bed. I bit my lip, "Are you saying you're worried about me?"

"That seems to be the case." He looked relieved. "Thank you for giving me the proper name for my current emotional state."

"You're welcome." I said, he stood there awkwardly. "Castiel." I sighed.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'm sorry about the other day, I'm just confused right now and I don't know how to deal with some of my emotions." I said.

"Confused?" Castiel said, well for lack of a better word, confused.

I was going to have to tell him. "In Djinnland, I had a life, friends, family, colleagues." I trailed off. "Boyfriends."

"And you have feelings for someone." He nodded in understanding.

"Well yes." I said, "But that's only half of it."

"What's the other half?" He tilted his head again and frowned.

"The guy I'm in a relationship with, _was_ in a relationship with." I amended. "He looked like you, exactly like you."

"Then what may I ask is the issue?" He was mystified. He sat on the bed beside me.

"Well I don't know if the feelings I have, if they're for you or for him. And I can't lead you on like that, especially as I'm not sure-" I said.

"-So it wasn't my kissing ability?" He interrupted.

I stopped mid-sentence and laughed. "No Castiel, you're a great kisser." We leaned closer.

"Am I interrupting something?" I heard suddenly from the door. Castiel and I sprang apart, seemingly faster than humanly possible.

"Not at all." I stuttered. "We were just-" Even though we hadn't done anything, I still felt like a teenage girl being caught with a boy in my room.

Sam held up his hand to silence me. "I do not want to know. I just came to tell Cas that his room was ready. It's the one next door." He fled quickly after that, but not before I saw the smile on his face as he glanced between Castiel and I.

"Are you going to bed straight away?" Castiel asked me as I headed towards my wardrobe.

"Nah," I said as I began searching for a pair of sweats. "I have a little physio-therapy to do, and then I'm going make the pancake batter for breakfast tomorrow and then maybe read a bit." I had been stuck in that hospital bed for days, doing something productive would stop me from going insane.

Castiel nodded and left.

I found my way up to the gym, half the equipment I had no idea how to use. However I knew how to operate a treadmill and the punching bag. After a 3 mile run and an hour punching the crap out of the bag, which in my mind's eye was Metatron's face, I headed for the showers and padded to the kitchen in my new comfy pyjamas. Which Sam and Dean, along with the rest of the new clothes I had bought, had thoughtfully salvaged from the wreck of the Prius for me.

I pulled my new acquired IPod out of my pocket and plugged it into the jack. Choosing my poison with care I began making the batter, occasionally taking a sip of my rum and coke. "_Hey, hey you, you, I don't like your Girlfriend_." I sang as I cracked the eggs into the bowl. I did a little dance on the spot as I turned and put the carton back into the fridge. "_No way, no way I think you need a new one._"

I finished stirring the batter and began using the spoon as a mike, "_So come over here, tell me what I want to hear. Better yet make your girlfriend disappear. I don't want to hear you say her name ever again!_" I pointed at the unsuspecting toaster, serenading to it for a second, before pulling my hand to my chest and bending my knees into a soulful pose. Then jumping up into the air and dancing like a lunatic. "_Hey, hey you, you, I know that you like me. No way, no way, you know it's not a secret. Hey, hey you, you, I want to be your girlfriend!_" The song finished and I turned back to the batter I covered it with cling film and shoved it in the fridge, humming along to the next song. I drained the rum and coke and washed it with the rest of the dishes.

I unplugged the IPod and returned it to my pocket, before heading to the library to find my new read material. I traced my finger along the spines of the old tomes; this library was any mythology professor's dream. I was almost drooling at the sight of some rare books, pulling one out with care, I read the first page. It was in the original Latin transcript! My eyes still wide with awe I carefully took it back to my room. After brushing my teeth and running a comb through my hair, I settled down on my bed and began reading.

I looked up at the clock and was startled, it was already 1 AM. I placed the book on my bedside table. Shutting off the light I snuggled into the covers and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: I do not own ****_Girlfriend_**** but it's catchy and it was kind of my inspiration this week. Another day, another chapter. How are you guys? Again it feels like a slow week, or maybe that's just me... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it took awhile to write. My muse is obviously bored. This is sort of a filler chapter but not (because that makes sense). Important things shall happen because of the events above. Now I sound all mysterious, mission accomplished.**

**A shout out to Jennifer (Yes, Chuck should come back!), Mie and iluvbooks4evaa. Thanks for the reviews/messages. You guys are amazing, lots of virtual cookies for you! And a huge thank you to all my followers and favorites, you guys are awesome, cake and hugs all around.**

**As always, comments, tips, criticism and other such things, message or review and I will reply ASAP. ALSO if you want to see something happen, someone show up, anything of that nature. Don't be afraid, ask and you shall receive!**

**Thanks for reading and see ya'll next week :) **


	9. To Hell In A Hand Basket

Chapter 9: To Hell In A Hand Basket

I woke up to see Castiel staring at me. "JESUS, CASTIEL!" I yelled in shock, jumping backwards.

"Morning." He said in way of greeting.

"Why are you staring at me like Edward freaking Cullen!" I asked, my heart was thumping painfully in my chest.

"I do not understand that reference." He said confused. "I did not mean to frighten you. My apologies."

"It's okay," I said, "Just don't do it again, it's creepy." I closed my eyes and snuggled back into the blankets.

Castiel cleared his throat. "I'm hungry."

"Hello hungry, I'm Bethany." I said not opening my eyes.

"No my name is Castiel, I am feeling hungry." He amended.

"I'm busy sleeping, eat some toast." I complained.

"I do not know how to make 'toast'." He said.

I groaned cutting him off, "I'm up, I'm up!" I said yawning. I stumbled towards the bathroom; I flicked the lights on and groaned again, shielding my eyes from the sudden light. I felt Castiel's gaze on my back and I spun around to see him laughing at me. "What are you laughing at?" I demanded grumpily.

"You." He said and grinned shyly

"Whatever bird-boy, you go set the table." I replied and shut the door on him.

He knocked lightly. "How do I set the table?" He asked.

I sighed and opened the door again. "Five plates, five knives, five forks, five cups. Like when I made French toast."

I shut the door and turned the shower on. I waited until I heard my bedroom door close and then stepped into the shower. Letting the warm water wake me up. After ten blissful minutes I hopped out, got dressed and headed towards the kitchen.

I rounded the corner to find a perfectly laid table. Castiel turned from his seat to look at me. "Good job." I complimented.

He smiled, "I had help." he said, pointing at Kevin who was sitting beside him.

Kevin shrugged, "I just pointed at stuff." Letting the newly human Angel take the credit. I gave him an appreciative glance. I donned my apron as I moved to the fridge.

"Well done both of you." I said as I pulled the batter out of the fridge and began my search for a saucepan. Once it was greased up and on the hot plate, did I make my way to the IPod dock. I picked a random song and began humming along as I cooked the pancakes. "_You won't admit you love me and so, how am I ever to know? You always tell me, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps._"

Using my classy cooking skills, I threw the pancake into the air, did a twirl and grinned when the pancake landed safely in the pan, golden side up. Finally using all of the batter I plopped the steaming plate of pancakes in front of the boys, whose number had now doubled.

They hungrily descended on the pile like angry vultures. Then they began raiding the kitchen for the stuff they wanted on their breakfast. Only after they began chewing did I get a look in. It was actually quite funny, their plates reflected their personalities. On Kevin's plate the pancakes were sprinkled lightly with sugar and lemon rolled and placed in neat rows, which he was carefully eating one by one.

Dean's plate was a mess of maple syrup and his pancakes were practically submerged in the stuff. He was attacking them viciously, but from left to right, organised chaos. Sam had his lightly covered in jam and dusted with icing sugar and he was slowly making his way through the meal using proper table manners.

I glanced at Castiel's plate and almost choked on my food. "Is that ketchup?" I asked in shock. The others stopped eating and looked at Castiel in a mixture of amusement and disgust.

The ex-Angel shrugged and ate one of his pancakes. "It tastes good."

"No way that tastes good, it looks nasty." Dean said shaking his head; he shuffled away from Castiel a little, like his eating habits were contagious.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I used my fork to pull off some of the tomato sauce covered pancake and popped it in my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully, the others watched in horror as I swallowed it. I shrugged, "It's not the worst thing I've ever tasted."

Dean spluttered, he turned back to his best friend and pointed at another pancake, "What's on that one?" He asked.

"Apple sauce." Castiel replied with a straight face.

"And that one?"

"Onion chutney."

Dean looked at his friend, his mouth hanging open. I laughed as Castiel very slowly, rolled up the onion chutney covered pancake and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly; making sure Dean was watching, he gave him a challenging stare as he swallowed. "Delicious." He said seriously.

Kevin and Sam burst into fits of laughter. I giggled as I gave Castiel a maple syrup pancake. "This might taste better." I told him as I put my fork in his mouth.

He nodded in consent, "That does taste pretty good, but my apple sauce one tastes better."

Suddenly we were all running around the kitchen putting random sauces and combinations on the remaining pancakes. I watched in disgust as Sam downed one soaked in soy-sauce and Kevin spit out one smeared in mayonnaise. Dean was the safest, covering his in peanut butter. I went extravagant and dipped mine in a combo of whole-grain mustard and sweet potato dip.

"Ugh that was awful." I said as I swallowed. "I think I'm going to have to wash my tongue."

Sam downed his glass of orange juice, "Are you joking? I'm going to have to hose down the walls of my stomach."

"I think I'm going to hurl." Kevin said abruptly and ran out of the kitchen in the direction of the bathroom.

Dean shook his head, "I'll wash up." He offered, Sam volunteered to help while Castiel and I promised to go shopping for food.

"What about Kevin?" I asked after Dean found me the keys to one of the bunker's cars. We heard the sounds of someone throwing up emanate from the open bathroom door.

Dean smirked, "I don't think he's going anywhere."

* * *

"So what do we want to eat for the next few days?" I asked Castiel as we entered the supermarket. I let him pick the trolley and we began walking down the aisles.

"Hamburgers." He answered instantly, "not sushi." He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

I sighed; I wasn't going to have this conversation again. "No hamburgers." I said in a tone that spelled out 'don't argue'. Castiel frowned but brightened again at the sight of popcorn. He picked up a box and gave me his best puppy dog eyes. "Throw it in." I consented.

We eventually decided on food to eat. I also bought other stuff, like fabric softener, tissues, a bottle of ginger ale for Kevin, a Kit-Kat for Sam and some pie for Dean. I also bought some bubbles for the delighted Castiel, who was fascinated by the stuff. (And he was also intrigued by the maze on the lid of the bubble mixture tube.) And a packet of chocolate chip cookies for myself, they were my guilty pleasure.

We made our way to the cash register, "You and your boyfriend are cute together." The server said smiling at us.

"Oh we're not…" I said quickly, she raised her eyebrows and gave me a knowing look. She didn't seem convinced, it didn't help that Castiel chose that moment to hold my hand and tug at me impatiently.

"Let's go home." He said annoyed, he gave the server a glare and led me out of the store.

"Why'd you glare at her?" I asked as we finished loading the car and I sat in the driver's seat.

Castiel shrugged, "She was making you uncomfortable."

"Oh." I responded, I mean what do you say to that? We drove back in slightly uncomfortable silence.

When we got back to the bunker I headed straight to the bathroom, where Kevin was still sitting and looking deathly pale. "I think the mayonnaise was off." He groaned. I sat beside him and gave him some ginger ale. "Thanks." He said weakly as he took a sip. He instantly looked better, and then he threw up in the toilet.

I kneeled beside him and held a cold damp towel to his forehead. "There, there." I soothed as he moaned. "Better out then in."

"Well this is embarrassing." Kevin chuckled faintly. "I've known you for what two days? And you're already holding my hair back while I puke. Next you'll be doing my laundry."

I grinned, "Don't hold your breath."

"I just wish I could hold the contents of my stomach." He whimpered as he leaned towards the toilet. I left him with a glass of ginger ale and a packet of salt crackers.

Besides Kevin weak stomach, the rest of the day was average and I felt a routine forming. Everyone was in bed at about nine, apparently Dean, Sam and Castiel were going to check out some haunting. They wanted to get a gauge of how much they were going to have to train the Angel to get him to a hunting standard. Kevin was to stay with me because he was still sick and, well, I wasn't that good in a fight. Which didn't bother me in the least; I wanted some proper training before I even looked at a ghost.

I was lying in bed, reading my book when I turned the page and an old post-it note fell out of the book. I read it curiously:

**_Could link to _****_File 2543_****_, check store room 7B._**

My interest peaking, I snuck out of my room and headed towards the area Dean said the store rooms were. Reading the numbers on the doors I found 7B and opened it. It was dark and musty and my nose began itching immediately with dust. I trawled to the back of the storeroom and kneeled down when I found the right file. Sitting on the ground I opened the file and began reading, there was just enough light from the open hall door.

It was a pretty average monster report, but it gave some food for thought. I slid it back in the box, some dust came floating up and I sneezed. I was so going to buy a feather duster and give this place a once over. I heard a wheezing cough and I spun around. The room was empty, I heard another hacking cough, it was coming from inside the wall. I looked at the ground, only now noticing the pattern of dust, I pulled the shelves forward and another room was revealed. I clicked the light switch and gasped in horror.

Chained up on a chair in the middle of the room, sat a hunched over figure. He was wearing a ripped, dirty suit and he needed a shave. His black hair was oily and untidy and his brown eyes looked at me wearily.

"Oh look another hallucination to keep me company." He said in a sarcastic British accent. "What did I do to you dear? Torture you? Make a deal? Steal something of yours?" He smirked.

"I'm not a hallucination." I said with a wavering voice.

"Because no one has said that before." He rolled his eyes and gave me an uninterested look "Look girlie; whatever I did to you, I'm sorry. Now leave me alone."

I took a step closer, he sounded awful. "You look terrible." I commented, "Who are you?"

He sighed, "Didn't I introduce myself before I did whatever awful deed you're here to haunt me for? Crowley at your service." He bowed his head mockingly.

"You're the King of Hell." I realised, but I kept moving forward.

"The one and only." He replied smarmily. "Now leave me alone."

"I'm not a hallucination." I repeated, "My name is Bethany."

"I don't remember ever meeting a Bethany." Crowley said frowning.

I rolled my eyes, "I told you I'm-"

"-not a hallucination." He cut me off. "So you've said." He started coughing, his body racked with the force of the fit and he spat out blood on the floor. "I haven't got time of mind games sweet-cheeks so scram."

I spotted a bucket of water on the floor; I took a cupful in my hands and brought it to his lips. He began drinking immediately; I refilled my hands several times as he greedily swallowed the water. 'See?" I said.

"Not a hallucination." He said in awe. He slowly moved his chained hand and poked my arm, which was sitting on the armrest of his chair. His voice cracked, "Why are you helping me?"

I knelt in front of him, looking in his eyes. "The last Trial, it purified you right?"

He nodded, "I'm half demon." He spat angrily.

"You're also half human." I said gently, "And no human, half demon or not, deserves to be treated this way." Crowley looked at me with wide eyes, like he couldn't believe I would show him kindness. My heart broke, what had the Winchester's done to him?

I began washing his face with water, gently removing the dirt and blood. "I don't deserve your kindness." He said softly. "I'm done terrible things; things that would make you recoil in disgust at touching me."

"Everyone can find redemption; no one had gone far enough to reach the point of non-forgiveness. No matter what you did, there will always be someone who can forgive you." I told him.

Crowley shook his head, "There is no one who would forgive me for what I have done."

I stood up "I do." I said quietly. "I'll be back as soon as Sam and Dean leave. Hold on until then okay?" He nodded his head, still looking at me like he wasn't sure if I was real. "And Crowley?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"If those hallucinations come back, tell them to go fuck themselves." I said seriously. He nodded grimly and stared at the wall in determination.

I closed the doors to the secret dungeon and began to leave. I gave storeroom 7B one last glance before heading back to my room and locking my door. For the first time in the bunker, I didn't feel safe.

* * *

**A/N: Oh Bethany, that was not a good idea... A couple of you have been wondering where Crowley is, well TAH-DAH! So here we are again, another week has gone by and I get to talk to you all again, yay! Though I am not particularly happy with this chapter, but I've tried rewriting it several times and this is the best that I've gotten. My main fear is Bethany comes off a bit Mary-Sueish, but there is a method to my madness, so please if you have started groaning in horror at my OC just bare with her, it will all be revealed at some point in the future.**

**So first off, love, hugs and waves of good karma to all those who have been kind enough to follow or favorite my crazy ramblings. And to those who have done both? Well you guys are just the bestest! Now a HUGE thank you to all those that reviewed: Jennifer and XLucyInTheSkyX your kind words make me smile every time I read them!**

**I love feedback, comments, tips, hints, tricks, burns I love it all, so send me a message or write a review! I would love to know what you think!**

**Now next order of business: If YOU (yes you) would like something to happen in this story, or for something not to happen. Maybe you would like some trickster action? Maybe you don't want that whole nasty thing with Kevin to go down. If YOU want a person to show up, Garth, Charlie, people who are living or dead! Write me a message or put it in your review and it can be so! Don't be afraid to ask, if it doesn't work in the story I will TRY to find someway to put it in there. This story is for you guys, so tell me what you guys want to read!**

**So all my love, appreciation and hugs to all my readers old and new! See you all next week for more fun times!**


	10. The Company You Keep

Chapter 10: The Company You Keep

Kevin was better by the next morning and the Winchester's decided to take him with them. I couldn't believe my luck and it took all of my willpower not do a little dance, now I could help Crowley in peace. It also took great inner strength not to seem standoffish to the two men who I had trusted with my life. Every time I saw them laugh or smile, an image of Crowley chained up downstairs flashed in front of my eyes.

That made me feel guilty, I mean Crowley _was_ the King of Hell. And he had done terrible things, killed hundreds and condemned thousands. Maybe I was trusting him too much? Or maybe it was because ever since that warehouse, I had a soft spot for captured, hopeless and broken things. As soon as they left I ran down to 7B and flung the doors open to reveal a cowering Crowley. His hands were covering his face; he was hiding from something in the far corner.

"Leave me alone!" He yelled desperately as he tried to hide himself in his seat.

"Crowley." I said gently, pulling his hands away from his face. "Hey, it's just me, Bethany." His eyes found mine in relief. He straightened himself up, but his eyes continuously flashed back to the corner in terror. "Look at me, look at me!" I demanded until I had his unwavering gaze. "It's not real, they're not real. Focus on what is, focus on me."

"Thank you." He said as he finally relaxed. I began slowly undoing his chains. "What are you doing?!" He demanded and shoved my hand away. I stepped back, my hands raised in a gesture of peace. He clicked the metal collar around his neck back into place, "I would have been free to leave if you undid that!" He cried indignantly.

I went back to undoing the rest of his chains; I pulled out a blindfold and tied it gently around his head. "For your safety." He commented, nodding. "Glad to see you're not a complete imbecile." I was beginning to wonder if he was experiencing some Stockholm syndrome.

I led him to the laundry which had a shower in the corner. I gave him a towel, other manly cleaning stuff and some soap; I took his filthy clothes and shoved them in the washing machine. It was a suit and probably should have been dry cleaned, but it was better than them remaining soaked in blood. It was a token of how weird my life now was that I was washing the King of Hell's underwear.

Thirty minutes later, Crowley was dressed in his suit (the bunker's washing machine/dryer was amazing) with clean hair, no beard and a slightly cleaner metal collar around his neck. Even his cough wasn't that bad, which solidified my belief that a decent shower makes everything better. I blindfolded him again and led him to the kitchen where I sat him down before heading to the fridge.

"You can take it off now." I told him conversationally as I laid in front of him a stack of sandwiches. "I hope you like chicken, tomato and avocado."

Crowley dug into the meal ravenously, moaning as he swallowed. "You're a good cook, I'll give you that." He told me as he started on his third sandwich. "Despite the company you keep." he gestured Dean's jacket, which was hanging on the back of one of the chairs.

"The company I keep is none of your business." I replied shortly. "Eat your food."

"Why are you helping me?" He asked, not for the first time.

"'But who prays for Satan? Who, in centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?'" I quoted as I poured him a glass of Craig, which he took gladly and drained in one gulp. I poured him another.

"It is nice to see you're well-educated, but I am hardly Satan. I've met him and out of the two of us, I am told he is more agreeable." Crowley laughed without humor.

"Don't sell yourself short." A voice said behind us. I spun around to see Dean and Sam fill the doorway.

"Crowley," I said calmly. "Get behind me. Now." He obeyed instantly, getting off his chair at lightning speed and allowing me to step between him and the Winchester brothers. "Hello Sam, Dean. Back so soon? I thought the haunting was in Dodge City."

"What are you doing with him?" Dean spat, a vein in his forehead throbbing and his face flushed with anger.

"Can't you tell Dean?" I said lightly and gesturing to the kitchen. "We're having lunch."

Dean started towards me but Sam held him back. However that wasn't very reassuring because Sam looked ready to attack me himself. "Bethany, explain." Sam said tightly.

"Well let's see…" I mused mockingly. "I go to look a file and find a chained man in a secret dungeon, dying of thirst and hunger and looking like he had been hung, drawn and quartered." My voice rising.

"HE'S HALF DEMON!" Dean shouted.

"AND HE'S HALF HUMAN TOO!" I yelled back. "And you wouldn't treat a rabid dog the way you treated him!"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE HE HAS KILLED?" Dean thundered. "INNOCENTS, OUR FRIENDS!" Castiel and Kevin entered the room; Castiel's eyes went wide at the sight of Crowley cowering behind me. Kevin's face filled with hatred as he spotted the demon.

"And how many people have you killed Dean? How many innocents when you were soulless Sam? Or how about you Castiel, all those Leviathans swimming around in there, how many Angels' wings did you clip?" I asked furious.

"I live with what I have done every day of my life. You think Cas doesn't have nightmares? Sam didn't have a soul when he did those things!" Dean argued.

I thrusted my hand behind me, pointing at Crowley, "Neither did he!"

Dean was fuming, "Whose side are you on?"

"I'm on the side of humanity! I'm on the side of those who treat people with some respect, no matter how small!" I replied.

"He doesn't deserve any respect!" Dean roared.

I stalked towards him; with no awareness for my own safety I shoved an accusing finger in his chest. "You just want to blame someone for all the bad things that have happened to you! Azazel isn't here, neither is Ruby or Lucifer or Zachariah or Dick or Michael or Lilith!" With each name I stabbed my finger into his chest. "Metatron isn't here Dean! But Crowley is, so your pour all your hatred, your angry and your malice into hurting him, forgetting one important thing! He isn't that monster anymore Dean. He isn't the unfeeling, soulless demon that you hate. He's half human, he can feel, he can hurt, he has a soul! If you want someone to blame, blame yourself, because you're the one who made him that way."

Dean stood there, breathing heavily. I grabbed the blindfold off the table and wrapped it around Crowley's head before gently shoving him past the other four men and back to 7B. Dean stepped in our path.

"Get out of the way Dean." I growled.

"We are not done." Dean said viciously.

"I said GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I yelled, shoving him aside. Dean stumbled back as he regained his footing he raised his arm and started towards me. I abandoned the blindfolded Crowley and began towards the oldest Winchester.

"Stop." Castiel said coolly standing between us.

"Cas get out of the way, this has nothing to do with you, this between Bethany and I." Dean said in a dangerously low voice. I moved around Castiel and aimed my fist for Dean's face.

"I SAID STOP." Castiel boomed in a commanding voice. His presence filled the room and if he had still been an Angel, the shadow of his wings would have spread across the walls. "Bethany, take Crowley downstairs. Now."

I fled the room quickly with the half-demon in tow. I led him to the storeroom and chained him up in silence. Finally I took off the blindfold and threw it in the direction of the corner. "You'll be fine; I won't let anything happen to you." I said, whether I was talking to Crowley or myself, I wasn't sure.

"You shouldn't have done that." Crowley said.

"As long as there is some part of you that seeks redemption, then there is some part of you that's worth defending." I replied shortly.

I closed the door on 7B and sat on the ground. I took a shaky breath and held my head in my hands. It had been stupid, aggravating Dean like that. It wasn't him I was mad at, not really. The way he had treated Crowley was appalling but what really had made me angry, was how I saw myself in him. I saw a poor human who had been captured and tormented. I guess I was the guardian Angel to Crowley that I never had, that I should have had. Castiel had been my savior and I would never forget it, but he hadn't been there soon enough, no one had.

I heard the raised voice of said Angel and he sounded like he was upset. I ran up the stairs and rounded the corner to see the kitchen in a mess. The chairs we turned over and broken glass was on the floor. Sam was helping Dean to stand; he had the makings of a black eye. Castiel was on the floor, blood dripping out of his mouth. I ran to his side and helped him up. "Are you ok?" I asked anxiously.

Castiel nodded grimly, "I believe the argument has been resolved."

I turned to Dean, "Dean, I'm sorry." I said softly as I handed him a packet of ice I fished out of the freezer. "I just don't think you should treat him that way, no matter what he has done in the past." I wringed my hands, "But I compromised the safety of the bunker; I should have asked you before I acted on my feelings." I hung my head. "Forgive me."

I was pulled suddenly into a hug, "I was worried about you more than the bunker," Dean said gruffly, "I thought he had found some way to control you." He wasn't good at apologies but I knew this was his way of saying sorry.

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "You hungry? I have some food we can eat."

* * *

The boys straightened up the kitchen while I threw together some lunch. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean give Castiel one of those manly, swing and clap on the shoulder hugs. I rolled my eyes; men were just so uncomfortable expressing their feelings. 'The emotionally constipated' was their anthem.

"So why did you come back early?" I asked curiously, "I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"Turns out it wasn't a haunting after all," Sam grimaced. "It was Abaddon."

"Abaddon? Here in Kansas?" I asked my eyes wide. From what they had told me she was one crazy ass, bad-guy. "So what did you do?"

"Hightailed our asses out of there, that's what." Dean said through a mouthful of sandwich.

"We didn't want to be caught unprepared." Castiel added.

I put down the glass I had been drinking from. "That settles it." I said abruptly.

The four men looked up at me startled. "Settles what?" They asked in unison.

"You," I said pointing at Dean, "Are going to train me to become a hunter."

"Well…" Dean said quickly, "I have to teach Cas some stuff, so I won't really have time to-"

"Perfect," I replied cutting him off, "We can train together."

Castiel cleared his throat, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

I raise my eyebrows, "Why, you afraid I'd be a better Hunter then you?" I gave him a challenging grin.

"What I think Castiel is trying to say," Sam interrupted our staring match. "What all of us are trying to say, is that you don't have to have this life. You can get out."

"And teaching you would take you to a place you won't be able to leave." Dean added. "Sam and I, we don't feel comfortable forcing this on you."

"Are trying to say you won't teach me?" I asked incredulously.

"Essentially, yeah." Dean said avoiding my gaze.

I looked at the others, who were all gaze down at their sandwiches in silence. "Unbelievable!" I yelled, "Un-_fucking_-believable!" They flinched, Castiel opened his mouth to say something, but I road over the top of him. "You either teach me," I threatened, "Or I'll find myself a ghost and learn on the fly."

Dean raised his head and grinned at me, "Personally I'm kind of glad you passed the test. You'll make one heck of a Hunter."

I gaped at him, was he serious? They were testing me?

Sam smiled "Congratulations Bethany, we start first thing tomorrow."

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! How are we all? Was the 'Thin Man.' All you hoped for? Not that I would know, since I haven't seen any of season nine... Maybe I should get Bethany to meet the Ghostfacers? Now that would be interesting. Next chapter exciting things will happen, I have great plans (*cackles madly*) and then the chapter after that, I feel a monster-of-the-week vibe coming on. Any particular nasty you want to come visiting?**

**As usual all my love to my followers, favorites, readers and reviewers. You guys are just amazing and I love each and every one of you. A special thanks to Jennifer for reviewing yet another chapter, Crowley is fun to write and I'm glad you liked it!**

**I send out my weekly invitation to review, good things bad things, things you like to ask. I take questions, and they don't even have to be related to this fic I'll answer random questions too. And also: You want to see something happen, want a guest appearance, or just don't want some stuff occur. Add it to your review or sent me a P.M. and I'll get back to you a soon as possible on where I'll put it in the story. **

**So all my best wishes for another week, my sister and my mother have a birthday this week. I'm weighing up whether I should get my sister a supernatural themed present, then again we are going to the Melbourne con together so... Until next time my friends! :)**


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